


pitch black sky (and other beautiful things)

by baekyall



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, M/M, Romance, Soulmates, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 20:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13688889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekyall/pseuds/baekyall
Summary: Every night, Chanyeol dreams of the same face. The same glowing smile, the same scrunched up nose, the same soft black hair. Every morning, Chanyeol wakes up with even less of an idea who it could be. Until a new kid walks into homeroom, shining like everything he's ever dreamed of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reposted this story from my AFF account (baekyall) because I wanted it to be available to people who prefer different platforms. It's completed, 13 chapters, weighing in around 30k, and posted in its entirety! 
> 
> Love you guys, hope you enjoy. I'd love feedback if you're willing to give it!

Chanyeol had gotten used to it. A daily routine, he would tell himself.

Step one: go to sleep.

Step two: dream of a random boy he'd never met before.

Step three: wake up with no clue of who said boy is, and never be able to make out the features that were  _just_  in his mind.  

Step four: go through the day, fall asleep, and repeat. 

It'd been like that as long as he could remember. Every night, he would dream of a boy with soft black hair and a softer smile, one with golden skin and sparkling dark brown eyes. He could tell the boy was shorter than him, that he smelled like honey, and that his laugh sounded like pure, uninhibited happiness. 

He could also tell that the boy wasn't real -- or at least he'd never seemed real. He was like a vague concept, slipping out of Chanyeol's mind the second he woke up. Chanyeol had tried to draw him so many times. 

He'd place a pencil and sketchbook next to his bed, ready for the next morning. He'd bolt awake, the beautiful face ringing through his mind, but as soon as he touched pencil to paper, the boy was gone.

Instead, a warm, comfortable blossom in his chest made Chanyeol aware that the boy wasn't really gone -- he just couldn't remember his face. The effect of the boy's smile hadn't left him yet, and he doubted it ever would.

\--

Today is normal. Another day not knowing who the boy is, another day heading to school with watchful eyes, ready to spot the mystery boy at any time. 

The bus ride is uneventful, just a child who forgot his fare and a kind older lady who ended up paying for him. It makes Chanyeol happy to see that kind of kindness in the world -- he has a soft heart, according to Sehun. His younger friend always makes fun of how easily he's moved to tears, and the amount of faith he holds in the compassion of people. 

Chanyeol thinks that Sehun just needs to shut up sometimes. 

The walk into school is normal. Harsh November wind whips around him, causing his scarf to blow up into his face. He can feel his hair, still slightly wet from his morning shower, turning into loose crunchy curls.  _Is it already that cold?_ He sighs. A girl trips and catches herself by grabbing his elbow, then apologizes profusely. Chanyeol finds it cute. 

Once he's seated at his desk, he breathes a sigh of relief -- for making it to class, and for the warmth of the room. 

"Nice of you to show up!" Sehun taunts as he spins around in his chair. 

Sehun is his best friend, really, but Chanyeol is too tired for this. He stayed up late the night before to work on homework, meaning that he had to shower in the morning. So now his hair is crunchy and he's still sleepy. 

"Shut up. I'm about to die," Chanyeol responds with a yawn. Sehun smiles and cups Chanyeol's face with large hands. 

"My little baby is so tired," Sehun pinches his cheeks. "Did you finish that paper for third hour?" 

Chanyeol rolls his eyes because, yes, he did. He spent almost four hours proofing and editing and rewriting that paper. All because it had to be over 1000 words, perfect in grammar, and due the next day. 

"Of course I finished. I'm a good student!" Chanyeol pulls his face out of Sehun's grip, focusing on getting out his pencil pouch. He stops, frowning suddenly. "Also, I'm older than you. You're only here because your parents thought you were some kind of kid-genius and sent you to school a year early." 

"They were wrong. I'm stupid as fuck now." 

Chanyeol can't help but laugh out loud at the look of complete seriousness on Sehun's face. His best friend really is smart -- but only when he chooses to be. And with Sehun's level of laziness, that's close to never. 

"You're smart," the older reassures. "Did you finish?" 

"No." 

Sehun's face is dead serious and Chanyeol worries for his grade.  _Good luck_ , he thinks. 

Just as he pulls out a pencil and a notebook, Sehun's friend Jongin rushes over to their desks. The tanned boy always finds out the school news and gossip before anyone else. Having a best friend for student council president and a father for assistant principal makes things easier to learn about. 

"Did you guys hear we got a transfer student? Apparently he just moved here, but he won't tell the teachers where he transferred from." 

Jongin's eyes are wide as he spills this information. Sehun, a natural gossip, seems extremely interested, even abandoning his phone on his desk in favor of making eye contact with Jongin. 

"Do you think he got into a fight?" He seems to rack his brain for more explanations. "Expelled? Got a girl pregnant? Killed someone?" 

Chanyeol scoffs. His mind tries to create an image of the new boy -- tough, tall, and well-built? Threatening? 

"I doubt he  _killed_  anyone, Sehun. He probably just doesn't want to bring it up. It might've been a bad school or something, and he's trying to avoid getting judged about it." Chanyeol points this out with a flick to his best friend's head.

Sehun recoils bitterly, swatting at Chanyeol's large hands. 

"You're zero fun," he chides. Sehun turns away from Chanyeol to resume the gossip with Jongin excitedly, and Chanyeol takes the chance to try and get rid of the crunchiness of his hair. 

As he runs his hands through the cold locks, the bell rings, and his homeroom teacher walks in holding his usual attendance folder. However, Chanyeol notices that something else is also in his hand -- a differently colored folder, one that's used for schedules. 

_Is the transfer student in_ _our class?_

Sehun turns around at a whiplash-inducing speed, making a face that ponders the same exact question.

Chanyeol shrugs, hoping that the empty seat next to him isn't chosen. There are three more empty spots around the room, and he desperately doesn't want a potential murderer-impregnator-expellee next to him, making Sehun curious and Chanyeol uncomfortable.

"Class, settle down," Mr. Lee starts, opening his folders. "As I'm sure you've heard, there's a transfer student joining us today. I'll let him introduce himself in a minute once he heads down this way. Until then, continue studying while I take attendance, okay?" 

The class makes a noncommittal "okay" sound and each friend group reconvenes to talk about the new revelation. Even Jongin looks shocked that the new, mysterious student is coming to  _their_ class. 

"Jongin, why didn't you tell us that?" Sehun shrieks in frustration. He seems panicked now. 

Jongin shrugs violently. "Kyungsoo didn't tell me! I don't think student council knew that yet. Just that there was a new--"

He's cut off by the soft sound of the classroom door sliding open. 

Everyone snaps their attention to the front of the room where a small boy is standing, back to the class.

They all watch as he slides the door shut softly, almost as if he's unfamiliar with what strength should be used to do this. The class is in shocked awe as he shuffles towards the podium, head down and books clutched so tightly that his knuckles are white. Everyone seems to be waiting for him to speak, to show his face -- to explain himself.

Chanyeol can't see much of his face, just a little of his left cheek and chin, but he knows there's something there -- something familiar. Something that won't go away. 

"Can you introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Lee asks, bending to make eye contact. The boy shys away slightly before nodding. 

He turns to face the class slowly, and when he looks up his face is flushed, eyes wide and terrified. 

Something clicks inside Chanyeol. The face is so familiar. His features look as if they had always been in the back of his mind. It's the boy. 

They're both shaking. The boy seems too scared to speak, and Chanyeol cannot believe what he's seeing. He's just as he always looked, but somehow real life makes him glow more. He seems to glitter with every movement.

 _His soft hands and smile and eyes and the way he is blushing_ Chanyeol's brain is screaming  _how is he real this is a dream am I dreaming how is this real how is he real how is he real_

The same soft hair turns to their homeroom teacher, mumbling a question. The same smile spreads -- this time out of awkwardness -- on the boy's face at the teacher's response. 

Chanyeol doesn't think he can breathe. 

"It seems he's a little shy. I'll introduce him instead," Mr. Lee smiles good-naturedly. "This is Byun Baekhyun, the new transfer student. Why don't you go sit down over there, Baekhyun?" 

Chanyeol vaguely sees his teacher gesturing towards him, and suddenly everything is too much. Chanyeol feels like screaming.

It's been so easy for him to brush it off as a weird recurring dream, but with this boy standing in front of him everything is different. He can't believe he actually exists -- he can't believe he didn't make him up. 

_Baekhyun Baekhyun Baekhyun Baekhyun_

"Chanyeol, raise your hand, please," Mr. Lee's deep voice breaks through his panic and he raises it automatically. 

School comes naturally to Chanyeol, even when it feels like breathing doesn't. 

He hears soft footsteps making their way over to him, light as a feather. He senses his classmates' eyes following Baekhyun and landing on Chanyeol. 

That's when he makes a big mistake; he looks up. 

Eye contact with the boy isn't like his dreams -- Baekhyun isn't smiling. He's walking nervously, face stoic and eyes sparkling. Baekhyun looks straight at him, almost through him, and Chanyeol can tell there's no recognition. It isn't two-sided. Chanyeol is the only one who has these dreams. 

Baekhyun looks away quickly and settles in his seat to the right of Chanyeol. The gentle scent of honey wafts over him. 

Chanyeol thinks he's lucky that he never divulged to Sehun about his dream, because now it'd be too much to explain. Now it wasn't just a weird, Chanyeol thing -- it was a real person with a real name. 

Chanyeol chances a look in the boy's direction. Baekhyun's hand is shaking and he's biting his lip, almost as if he's trying not to cry. Chanyeol can't tear his eyes away from his face. All of his features are the same as the boy in his dream.

Except, when Baekhyun turns to look back, there is no soft smile on his face. 

Instead, Chanyeol can see that his eyes are so dark brown that they look like almost black.  _The night sky,_ he thinks,  _his eyes look like the night sky, with stars and everything._

Chanyeol averts his eyes as fast as he can, blushing to the core. 

_I hope I'm dreaming._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have all three of my fics now up on ao3, though Rêverie is still ongoing. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks for the support I've received so far, and I'd always love to interact with you guys!


	2. two

Chanyeol spends the rest of the day panicking. 

Every time he looks to the right, Baekhyun's prescence is overwhelmingly clear. Sehun tries to speak to him, but everytime he turns around, Chanyeol is so out of it that he gives up. The day passes slowly, much to Chanyeol's dismay. 

It's during fifth hour, when Chanyeol gets up to go to the restroom, that he accidentally knocks something off of Baekhyun's desk. He turns and feels blood rushing to his cheeks, too embarrassed to make eye contact with him again.

"Sorry," Chanyeol mumbles. 

Baekhyun looks up at him, dark bangs falling into his eyes. Chanyeol reaches down to grab the paper and put it back on his desk, Baekhyun's somber eyes following his every movement. 

"It's okay," the smaller boy responds. He sounds confused, somehow. 

His voice shocks Chanyeol. It's not deep, but it's definitely not high, and it's smooth. 

Just as Chanyeol snaps himself out of the trance and moves to walk away, Baekhyun grabs his sleeve softly. Chanyeol doesn't know if it's real or if he's imagining it, but his grip seems to tighten after a second. 

Wordlessly, Chanyeol turns back around. Baekhyun's eyes are boring into Chanyeol's, his expression something like desperation and anxiety. 

"Can you help me?" his voice is soft now, so soft and melodic. 

Chanyeol wants to throw off his hand and go to the bathroom like he'd planned to, but something about the look in Baekhyun's eyes makes him falter. The throbbing of his erratic heart isn't helping much, either. 

"With what?" Chanyeol asks hesitantly. It's then that he notices Sehun side-eyeing them, seemingly uninterested. But Chanyeol knows he's fully invested in the conversation between him and the new student. 

"I don't know where to go," Baekhyun answers softly. He's shining again, Chanyeol notices, and he has to drag his eyes off of the other's features in order to nod dumbly. 

"I can show you around the school," Chanyeol offers, words spilling out in a choking way. He wants to die. "If you want, I mean." 

Baekhyun only nods softly, a kind smile spreading across his lips. Chanyeol takes that back,  _now_ he wants to die.  _How is he so ethereal?_ Chanyeol wonders. 

Chanyeol avoids eye contact with Sehun as he leaves to go to the bathroom, fearing that the blush on his cheeks will give too much away. 

\-- 

After a brief pep talk to himself and three handfuls of water splashed onto his face, Chanyeol is feeling more alive. He sits, thinking too hard about the events of today. 

 _If he's a real person, then have I met him before?_ No, he answers himself, I don't recognize him from anything else. And he doesn't know me. 

 _Why won't he tell the teachers where he transferred from?_ Chanyeol doesn't have an answer for that one. And it makes him nervous because at this point, he should know if Baekhyun gives off any sort of bad vibe. All he can detect is the faint scent of honey and an overwhelming warmth in his eyes and face. 

 _Why does he make me so nervous?_ Chanyeol can only guess that it's because he'd never expected to actually meet him, but something deep inside him says otherwise. He knows that the boy has always left a warm feeling in his heart, but he doesn't want to face any other possibilities.

The thing that bothers Chanyeol most is the question of whether Baekhyun is the same as the boy in his dream. They have the same face, but are they the same person? Why did he appear to Chanyeol all those years ago, and why does Baekhyun, someone he's only just met, give him such a familiar feeling? 

He sighs loudly -- too loudly, he realizes, when he remembers there are other boys in the bathroom -- and decides to just show Baekhyun around and try to forget the questions for now. 

All the tiredness from earlier that day had vanished and he was certain that no matter how hard he tried to sleep that night, it'd be useless. He knows he'll have hours to stress over those questions tonight.

He suddenly pictures Baekhyun's soft face, his eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. His heart throbs in an uncomfortable way, and he heads back to class feeling like he's going to explode. 

\--- 

The bell rings and Sehun turns around expectantly. 

"Are we walking home together, Yeol?" he asks innocently. Chanyeol knows it isn't. He's only ever called Yeol by the younger when he wants something, or when he's being mischevious. 

"No--" 

He's cut off by the soft touch of Baekhyun's hand on his sleeve again. He can't finish his thought, much less his sentence, as he stares into the pitch black eyes. 

Sehun seems to sense that something about their interaction is off, and he waves before jogging to catch up with Jongin. Chanyeol thinks it's a blessing for Sehun to give up that easily, but he's also doubly scared because now it is just him and the boy he's been dreaming about for years. 

"Yeol?" Baekhyun's voice isn't as soft anymore, but it remains smooth and sweet. Chanyeol thinks it sounds like honey, just like he smells. 

Chanyeol is also going into cardiac arrest. 

"Chanyeol. My friend's just being dumb," he explains quickly, almost too quick, and knows he sounds like a nervous wreck. 

"Oh. Okay." 

It goes really silent then. He can't think of anything else to say, so he watches Baekhyun pack his pencil and three sheets of paper into his backpack with his free hand. Baekhyun tugs his sleeve almost impercetibly, but Chanyeol is so sensitive to everything he does that he notices anyway. 

Chanyeol moves slowly, letting Baekhyun trail behind holding his sleeve. He thinks it's cute how soft Baekhyun is, but he also wishes Baekhyun would be loud and act like a normal teenage boy for a second because he really can't deal with his heart jumping like this anymore. 

"That's the cafeteria, and that's the gym, and over there is the door you're only allowed to use to leave for driver's ed, but I think you're old enough to not have to take that, right?" Chanyeol knows he's rambling, but Baekhyun is watching everything with wide eyes and no comments. 

"Chanyeol, do you know a lot about astronomy?" 

He doesn't, besides the fact that he's a sagittarius. It hits him then that that's astrology, and so he really doesn't know what he's talking about. Does Baekhyun want him to know about astronomy?

"No, not really, why?" is his carefully thought out answer. It sounded better in his head. 

"Oh, just checking. I had some questions, but it's fine." 

Chanyeol nods awkwardly, inwardly reminding himself to buy some books on astronomy soon. He doesn't want to seem stupid in front of Baekhyun, especially now that he knows that he's real, willing to talk to him, and  _so_ beautiful. 

"Chanyeol, what time does school start?" Baekhyun lets go of his hold on Chanyeol's sleeve for a split second. Chanyeol feels like he can breathe a little bit easier now. 

"7:30. And it ends around 2:30, but there's a lot of after school activities, so most don't leave until around 4." 

Baekhyun looks up in shock and tightens his grip again. 

"Are you missing after school activities right now? Isn't that bad?" The concern in Baekhyun's voice startles him, but he shakes his head no. 

"I'm not in anything, don't worry!" Chanyeol blushes bright red. If he didn't sound like a weird, dumb loser to Baekhyun before, he knows he does now. 

Baekhyun sighs in relief and smiles the same smile Chanyeol has seen so many times before. The way his cheeks plumpen and his nose scrunches brings a wave of familiarity to Chanyeol, and he suddenly realizes that  _it's not a dream._  If he wanted to, he could smile back, or tell Baekhyun that he has a beautiful smile. He could do anything. 

He doesn't, but it's enough knowing that he can. He's still having too much of a mental breakdown to say anything out loud yet. Baekhyun seems to realize that he's tired very suddenly, yawning and completely letting go of Chanyeol. 

"I'm going to go and nap. I'm so tired," a yawn, "Thank you, Chanyeol. I will see you tomorrow." 

Before Chanyeol can respond, Baekhyun is walking away, short legs surprisingly fast. 

Maybe it's for the best, he thinks, because being around Baekhyun makes it hard for him to function like a normal person. 

\-- 

Three days pass. Each day, Baekhyun comes to school at exactly 7:29, says hello to Chanyeol, and then sits there quietly for the rest of the day. He never eats, or jokes, or talks to anyone. 

It kind of scares him. 

"Why is he like that?" Sehun whispers during lunch, right as they leave the classroom. Baekhyun is the only one staying behind because he's "not hungry" and would rather sit alone in silence. 

"I have no idea. I guess he just likes being alone," Chanyeol punctuates this with a shrug. Sehun squints at his best friend, unsure of the legitimaticy of his answer.

"You know, I see the way you look at him," Sehun says pointedly. Chanyeol chokes on air. "Just because you have a little crush on him, are you ignoring the fact that he's a total fucking weirdo?" 

Chanyeol punches Sehun's shoulder at that, disapproving of everything his friend just said. He doesn't know whether he's offended for Baekhyun's sake or if he's embarrassed for himself.

"I don't have a crush on him."

Chanyeol knows he blushes when he says it, but Sehun lets it drop. Instead, he seems to turn the focus of their conversation to the first day Baekhyun had showed up to school. 

"What exactly did you show," he stops to make a suggestive hand gesture, "him on the first day?" 

Chanyeol splutters and ignores this question's real meaning. His mind flashes to Baekhyun's small hand around his sleeve, the look on his face as he observed the entire school, the feeling of walking next to the shorter boy.

"I showed him the gym and the cafeteria and where to go for certain classes. Can you ever stop?" 

Sehun shakes his head gravely in a way of saying  _No, I will never stop._

\--

This is it, Chanyeol decides. That afternoon, he realizes that maybe Baekhyun is a little weird. And so he decides that he must investigate, sans Sehun, into why Baekhyun is the way he is. The list of adjectives that Chanyeol can come up with are as follows: quiet, ethereal, confused, otherworldly. 

And that's why he's walking very quietly and very far away from the literal boy of his dreams down the street. He follows closely enough to watch the way Baekhyun's soft hair shifts with the wind, but far enough away that he can never hear the sound of his feet on the concrete. 

 _I feel like a stalker._ If Sehun were here, he'd say "because you are a stalker," but Chanyeol decides to ignore that. That's one of the reasons he decided this mission was specifiically without his younger friend. 

After what feels like miles of walking, Chanyeol watches Baekhyun take a sharp right into the public park. However, he walks past the park and into the small stretch of woods behind it, disappearing completely into the brush in a matter of seconds. 

Chanyeol is intrigued and slightly terrified. He follows as quietly as he can. About fifteen feet into the brush, he sees Baekhyun sprawled out onto the forest floor, sleeping. 

Chanyeol checks his watch; it's barely even three. Why would Baekhyun need to sleep so suddenly? And  _here_ of all places?

He notices that Baekhyun really does sleep like an angel, soft features accentuated by the complete relaxation, and his cheeks light pink despite the chilly weather. It's then that he also notices the fact that Baekhyun is laying a on a blanket, with his backpack as a pillow. And that the grass around the spot seems to be flattened, as if Baekhyun frequented this place for an afternoon nap. 

He knows he can't leave now -- not when he knows that Baekhyun is sleeping in a forest, during November, for no reason. 

Chanyeol sits down on the pile of cold leaves next to him, heart set on waiting for Baekhyun. 

Three hours later, Baekhyun finally wakes up. Chanyeol had moved back to the edge of the trees an hour before so that he wouldn't be noticed when the boy did awaken, and the taller watches with anticipation. His hands are frozen by now, and so he knows the shorter boy must be freezing. 

He sits, waiting for Baekhyun to jump up and run home, ready to act as if he'd just been passing by in the park. 

Except, he doesn't. It's already six, and natural light was fading quickly. Chanyeol begins to panic. Why won't he go home? It'll start getting frigid soon, and he's so worried, and Baekhyun is just sitting quietly on his blanket, staring up at the sky. 

After fifteen minutes, Chanyeol realizes that Baekhyun isn't going home. With frozen hands and a heart that feels like it's combusting into flames, Chanyeol stands. 

"Baekhyun," he calls quietly, trying hard not to scare the boy. 

Baekhyun jumps anyway, suddenly aware that there's someone around him. He looks over in shock, his cheeks and nose red with cold. 

"Chanyeol?" his voice is scratchy. It makes Chanyeol's heart drop a little. 

"Why aren't you going home?" he asks, half watching Baekhyun's face and half focusing on making his way thorugh the brush. Baekhyun blushes then and looks away. 

"Uh, it's a long story," he laughs awkwardly, rubbing obviously cold hands together. "Don't worry about it." 

"Baekhyun, it's really cold out here. Aren't you freezing?" 

Baekhyun's eyes betray him as Chanyeol sees them quiver slighty. No matter what face the shorter is making, Chanyeol knows that he's cold and in pain. 

"Why aren't you going home?" Chanyeol is close now, close enough to lean down and sit on the blanket, too. Baekhyun stares at him with his dark eyes. 

 _He looks conflicted_ Chanyeol realizes. As if it's a way to help Baekhyun get over his internal conflict, Chanyeol reaches out to feel Baekhyun's cold hand with his own. 

"I," Baekhyun swallows and looks away again. "I don't really have a house?" 

Chanyeol doesn't know what to say as he feels Baekhyun's chilly hand begin to tremble. 

"Let's go to mine, then," he doesn't know why he's saying this. He's not even sure if his mom will let him have Baekhyun over for dinner, but he knows he has to do somehting. "Come on, let's go." 

And Chanyeol helps Baekhyun fold up his blanket, pick up his backpack, and leads the way out of the trees. 

The entire time, dark eyes follow Chanyeol with wonder and something tender. 


	3. three

His mom is slightly shocked, to say the least. She pulls Chanyeol aside after Baekhyun is sat on the couch -- wrapped in two blankets -- to warm up. Baekhyun seems comfortable enough; his cold hands tremble on the warm sofa and dark eyes study the interior of Chanyeol's living room. Chanyeol feels a fondness at the scene. A boy he'd never expected to actually exist, sitting in his house; it's surreal. 

"Who is he? Why doesn't he have a house? Has he eaten? Do you know his parents?" her questions come out rapid-fire. He's unable to even process each question before she's asking the next.

"Wait, mom, let me explain--" 

"No, you will answer my questions first," she sighs. "Has he eaten?" 

Chanyeol shakes his head. She seems to be distressed the most by this fact, clutching her heart and pushing Chanyeol towards the living room. 

"He's sleeping here tonight, and I'm going to feed him, and we're going to work this out. Go get him warm clothes. He's blue." 

Chanyeol walks past Baekhyun, who isn't actually blue, to go get warm clothes. The boy notices him and jumps up, leaving his blankets in a pile on the couch. Baekhyun follows behind him carefully and quietly. As they approach the taller's room, Baekhyun reaches a hand out to grab for Chanyeol's sleeve. 

Chanyeol can tell what the shorter wants to ask before he does. 

"My mom says you're sleeping here tonight, and you have to eat dinner with us," he explains, pushing some of his older, woolly pajama pants and a t-shirt towards the smaller boy. "Sorry, my clothes are way too big for you."

Baekhyun doesn't seem to mind and looks at them happily, giving Chanyeol a dazzling smile.

The taller feels his breath catch in his throat and, God, there he goes again. 

It doesn't help that Baekhyun doesn't seem to care that bathrooms exist and instead takes off his school uniform to change immediately, in front of Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol tries his best not to look, especially when Baekhyun's pale skin is exposed to the cold air, because he doesn't want to think about how soft Baekhyun's skin must feel. But Chanyeol almost prefers the awkwardness of Baekhyun changing because once he has the oversized clothes on, he looks so comfortable and cute that it makes his stomach flip.

In his dreams, Baekhyun had always been wearing a casual outfit. Never a school uniform or cozy, oversized pajamas. And definitely never standing in Chanyeol's room. It was enough to make him feel blushy and uncomfortable all over again. 

\--

Dinner is awkward, mostly because Baekhyun is quiet doesn't seem like he has answers to any questions. Chanyeol's mom forces him to eat at least ten spoonfuls of soup and a slice of bread, but Baekhyun prefers to watch others eat, as Chanyeol soon figures out. 

"So, Baekhyun, how long have you been going to Chanyeol's school? I don't remember hearing your name," his mom brings it up casually. Baekhyun stops the spoon of soup he'd been blowing on midair and thinks. 

"Four days?" it comes out as a question. Chanyeol can't stop staring at the way Baekhyun eats, the way he smiles softly when he zones out during the quiet spaces in between bites and conversations. 

"Four days?" Chanyeol can tell his mother is shocked. 

"Then, when did you move here?" 

"Uhm," he seems to be adding something together in his head. "About seven days." 

Chanyeol is uncomfortable with the image of Baekhyun sleeping outside in the cold all of those days, and is suddenly so thankful that he decided to follow him. 

"Why'd you move here?" 

"Not sure," is his only answer. This causes Chanyeol to look over in confusion, studying the innocent look on Baekhyun's face. Well, at least he doesn't look like he's lying. 

"Do you have parents? Siblings?" Chanyeol asks suddenly, frantically. The thought that his younger sibling might still be out in the cold had never even crossed his mind, but now that it had, it was gut-wrenching to think about. 

"No, just me," Baekhyun says casually around his spoon. Chanyeol can feel his mom's piercing stare across the table. 

She seems to calm down as she watches Baekhyun eat more than his required ten spoonfuls, a motherly smile spreading out of relief. However, Chanyeol doesn't miss the look she shoots him right before he goes upstairs for bed. 

A sharp look that would normally make him fear for his life. But he knows his mom is too nice to do anything when there's a guest -- especially a cold, adorable orphan. 

So instead of fearing, he scurries upstairs to his room, Baekhyun's quiet footsteps trodding behind him.

It's awkward getting ready to sleep. Chanyeol shows him where the bathroom is, where extra wash cloths are, and tells him what toothbrush he can use. 

It all goes in one ear and out the next. 

Five minutes into Baekhyun's bathroom time, Chanyeol hears a frantic scream and he immediately jumps up. The first thing that runs through his mind is that Baekhyun is hurt. He just fell and broke his neck and his beautiful eyes have tears in them and I don't know how to unbreak a neck.

His imagination is stopped, though, when he reaches the bathroom and knocks. Instead of a broken necked, crying Baekhyun, a very naked Baekhyun answers the door. 

"I can't get this to work," the smaller boy says in an exasperated tone. "I just burnt my foot when I tried to step in." 

Chanyeol averts his eyes and suddenly he thinks that the ceiling is very interesting. He focuses on the crack in the corner closest to him and he traces it with his mind. He will do anything to avoid looking down at the naked boy in front of him again. 

"Cover up," he orders, and he can tell his voice sounds awkward and thick. Baekhyun looks down and seems to realize that being naked around others isn't as normal as he'd previously thought, and he nods quickly, reaching for Chanyeol's oversized pajamas again. 

"Sorry!" Baekhyun says in that soft voice. Chanyeol's heart constricts when he looks back down and the smaller is in oversized, comfy clothes. Focus, Chanyeol, focus. 

He turns to the steaming shower and turns the hot water down slightly, until it's warm enough for humans to use it. Baekhyun stands close to him and takes in the steps of working the shower properly. 

"Thank you, Chanyeol," Baekhyun whispers, and when Chanyeol looks, he's smiling up at him. It's like the dream. The exact smile, the angle, the boy before him. 

"Anything for you." 

It slips out. Chanyeol feels all the blood in his body rush to his cheeks. Why did I say that why did I say that why did I say that

Baekhyun doesn't seem to notice if it's awkward, though. Instead of dwelling on Chanyeol's words, he's fascinated with watching the water pour into his open palm. Chanyeol can see him reaching to take off the oversized t-shirt, and he immediately backs out of the bathroom. 

"Be careful," he says more to himself than Baekhyun as he pulls the door shut. 

\-- 

It's been twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of silence. Chanyeol had come back from his shower to see Baekhyun laying on the floor in his make-shift sleeping bag bed, staring out the window. He'd said goodnight to the boy (who was even more quiet than usual, he noticed) and shut off the lights. He crawled into bed and tried to focus on anything besides the soft breaths of the smaller boy just a foot away from him. 

Thus, twenty minutes of silence had gone by before a voice broke through the quiet. 

"Why did you follow me?" 

Chanyeol doesn't know what the say. He starts to panic. Lie? Tell Baekhyun the truth? Bring up his dream?

"I," he stops. "I-" 

"Nevermind," Baekhyun sounds peaceful, his smooth voice coming out lower than before. "No matter why you did it, thank you for bringing me here." 

Chanyeol grunts in response, unable to form proper words. His stomach is filled with the entire butterfly house. Hearing Baekhyun speak, knowing that his face and warm body are nearby, brings fluttering to every particle of his being. 

"I know I'm weird. I heard some kids from class talk about it. I'm trying to not be, really. I'm just still learning. So thank you for helping me." 

Still learning? Learning what? How to work a shower, how to go to school? Chanyeol's mind races with possibilities of tragic backstories, of adventures that caused Baekhyun to walk shyly into his life. 

The sadness that's present in Baekhyun's voice makes his heart clench uncomfortably. He can almost picture Baekhyun's smiling face turning into one of pain. It's so odd, he thinks, I've never thought about what he'd look like sad. I hate it. I hate it so much.

"Don't talk like that!" Chanyeol sits up, looking down at Baekhyun for the first time since he'd walked in. The smaller boy is bundled up in blankets, hair puffed around his face, cheeks still pink from his shower. 

Baekhyun sits up, too. His soft hands hold onto the side of Chanyeol's bed -- something that doesn't go unnoticed by the taller; in fact, it makes his stomach flutter in a completely different way, but he disgresses. 

"Who said that you were weird?" Chanyeol is so unhappy. The thought of someone insulting Baekhyun courses through his veins as pure anger. He runs his hands through his hair before settling them back down to grip his blanket with fury.

"I am weird, though," Baekhyun's voice rings with sincerity and sadness.

"Was it that fucking idiot Junmyeon? I swear, he just says anything because the teacher likes him, and he thinks he's the top of the class--"

Baekhyun places a cold, calming hand on top of Chanyeol's. The effect is immediate: Chanyeol's heartbeat of rage turns to one of shyness, of anxiety, and he gulps hard.

Chanyeol can't stop staring at how small and pale and soft Baekhyun's hand is compared to his own. He wants to hold it. Before he can dwell on every curve of the shorter boy's hand, the boy is squeezing Chanyeol's middle three fingers in comfort. 

"It doesn't matter! I'm weird, but I'm learning," Baekhyun says it so matter-of-factly that Chanyeol nods, believing him. "And you're helping me. That's all that matters. You're my only friend. You're the best person I've ever met."

Chanyeol wants to laugh because, really, how many people could Baekhyun know for him to top the list? But he also wants to cry because the look in Baekhyun's eye proves to him that he's being honest. He really is the only person who has ever helped Baekhyun. 

When Baekhyun pulls away from Chanyeol's hand with a faint blush, Chanyeol looks away distractedly, forcing himself to instead focus on sleep. I don't have time for this he's so cute and if I get nervous I can't sleep and then I won't wake up on time to wake him up and then -- 

"You should sleep. We have school tomorrow," Chanyeol reminds softly.

The boy nods and turns to burrow back into his sleeping bag. Chanyeol hears Baekhyun shuffling around under the blankets, and his heart flips when he makes a satisfied sound as he finally gets comfortable. 

"Good night, Chanyeol," his voice is as light as a feather. "Sleep well." 

Chanyeol lays still until he can hear Baekhyun's breathing even out. He thanks himself over and over for following Baekhyun, and mentally buys his mom a thousand bouquets for letting Baekhyun stay. His mind flits to beating up Junmyeon for a second, but it passes when Baekhyun makes a soft dreaming sound. It calms down the storm raging inside of him enough for him to match his breathing to the other boy's, drifting off. 

That night as he falls to sleep, all he can think about is Baekhyun's soft hand and the smile on his face and the thought of waking up with the boy of his dreams a foot away. He thinks waking up isn't so bad. He might become a morning person.


	4. four

They develop a routine of sorts. Chanyeol wakes up with Baekhyun's smiling face still fresh on his mind, checks to make sure the boy is sleeping peacefully, and carefully tiptoes over him to head down the hall.

From there on, he has to be quiet. He gets completely ready at least thirty minutes early, showering quickly and making sure he looks decent before making his way back to his bedroom. It's only then that he feels decent enough for Baekhyun to see him, and he wakes the boy softly with a tap on the shoulder.

Baekhyun bolts up suddenly, looking shocked that Chanyeol is there, that he's in Chanyeol's bedroom, and that it's morning. The widened, dark eyes are always the first thing Chanyeol sees. Then, right after he's startled, he smiles that beautiful, blinding smile and stretches out as a greeting.

And even though Chanyeol tells himself not to, he's grown uncomfortably used to it over the span of a week.

He keeps reminding himself Baekhyun will leave; he can't live here forever. _He will leave. Don't get too used to him. He will leave. He doesn't even know you, and he will leave._

He hasn't yet, though, and Chanyeol is so grateful. Even though Baekhyun doesn't talk much, he sends soft smiles to Chanyeol and learns the ways of living in the Park household.

He knows that when Chanyeol says he's full, he's not, he just needs to eat dessert, and so Baekhyun suggests watching some TV and having a slice of cake. And he knows that when Chanyeol's mom, Mrs. Park, as he calls her, gets home, Chanyeol always goes to see her and ask how her day was. Baekhyun follows and does the same, always asking a basic question or two. He thinks it feels a little bit like having a home.

After a week of co-habiting, they don't have to speak in order for Chanyeol to tell him to grab a plate; it's breakfast time.

Instead, he looks over at the smaller boy and flashes a smile towards the fridge. And Baekhyun knows. It feels like they've known each other for years. For some reason, the dream doesn't seem like an unending maze to Chanyeol anymore. It feels like a safe guarentee, with the boy there when he wakes up, the warmth from the smile never fading.

Baekhyun has gotten better at working the shower, the toaster, the microwave. He improves on everything quickly and by day three he's won over Chanyeol in mario kart. Chanyeol doesn't have the heart to admit he let him win, but the crinkled eyes and dimples that show up when Baekhyun screams in victory are enough for him.

Chanyeol has also discovered that instead of speaking, Baekhyun likes contact. Where Sehun would hold a conversation to prevent the air from turning awkward, Baekhyun just holds onto Chanyeol's sleeve softly and all awkwardness disappears. At least, for Baekhyun.

For Chanyeol, it's like a ticking time bomb. Every moment is charged with electricity, every look from Baekhyun sets him on edge. He can never breathe, at least not deeply. Chanyeol has found himself in too many situations that seem unrealistic -- the literal boy of his dreams is standing in front of him, asking Chanyeol to teach him how to use the laptop, requiring the taller to hold hands with the smaller. It makes his head spin, his heart skip, and Baekhyun seems fine.

And Chanyeol accepts that Baekhyun will never have those feelings for him. He knows that he's been in love with that face and smile for years now, and he could never expect it to be reciprocated.

But it doesn't make the fact that Baekhyun is pretty, really pretty, and has the attention of many at school any easier to deal with.

Chanyeol tries not to be jealous, really, but Baekhyun is so oblivious to people's attempts of flirting that it makes him want to scream. Sehun notices and smirks everytime Chanyeol lets the green monster get the best of him. He's trying to hide his reactions better because, really, he can't afford for Sehun to keep making fun of him so often.

\--

"Baekhyun, do you understand this? Can you teach me?"

Chanyeol can hear the fake confusion in her voice, and he physically restrains himself from rolling his eyes. He knows that Soonkyu is good at math. She needs no help, except when Baekhyun is the tutor.

Baekhyun shakes his head, without a clue, and replies, "No, I don't understand that formula at all. I'm so bad at it, sorry."

Chanyeol feels happiness burst in his chest. He feels mean for getting such joy out of someone else getting rejected, but the happiness outweighs any guilt by far.

It's barely five minutes before someone else comes to Baekhyun's desk, but instead they want to help him. _Shit_ , Chanyeol thinks frantically, _Baekhyun needs help and will definitely say yes. And Yixing is ten times hotter than me._

"Yes, please!" he can hear the smile in the shorter boy's voice. The happiness is contagious and Chanyeol finds himself feeling content -- before he remembers the tall boy who is not so subtly ogling Baekhyun elicited this response.

Chanyeol tries to block them out, really, but when he sees Yixing scooting so close that he and Baekhyun's thighs are touching, Chanyeol sees red for a second. Baekhyun is too nice, too naive, and he won't tell Yixing to go away if he feels uncomfortable. _And I'm stupid, so I can't help him with the formula, so I know I can't interfere._

"What's wrong, Chanyeol?" Sehun asks with a giggle, eyes malicious and facial expression gleeful.

"Fuck you. You know what's wrong," he grumbles in reply. Of all people, his best friend should understand his plight instead of taunt him for it. It's not his fault he kind of adores such a handsome boy. And that said boy is kind and radiates smiles all day, leading to others noticing how perfect he is.

"Your boyfriend won't cheat on you, don't worry," Sehun assures softly, cooing at his older friend.

"Stop it!" Chanyeol whisper screams. Baekhyun is right there and he would rather die than have him overhear this conversation and make any connections.

"Don't worry, hyung," Sehun laughs but no sound comes out. "I guarantee that you've already gotten farther than Yix--"

Chanyeol slaps a hand over his mouth, mentally using every insult he knows. Why can't Sehun just be quiet?

"Shut the fuck up, right now!"

He's a little too loud that time. Baekhyun and Yixing look over, shocked. Yixing's eyebrows are into his hairline, and Baekhyun is observing Chanyeol and Sehun with unwavering eyes. Chanyeol blushes deep, removing his hand from Sehun's face, and cursing himself for responding to the younger boy's first comment. He should've known.

"Are you okay, Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asks in that smooth, sweet voice of his.

Chanyeol has his head down on his desk now, avoiding looking at Sehun, Baekhyun, and definitely not Yixing. He nods and utters a muffled "yes."

Sehun bursts out laughing, hitting Chanyeol's head softly out of joy. Baekhyun's eyes follow them suspiciously, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. When nothing comes of it, Baekhyun refocuses on the homework, leaving Sehun to toy with Chanyeol's hair.

Five minutes later, when Yixing has run out of math talk and turns towards personal conversation, Baekhyun cuts him off.

"Thanks for the lesson, Yixing!" Baekhyun lilts, a shining smile thrown towards the boy.

Yixing nods, blushing, and stands up to leave, knocking over a book on the way. Chanyeol can see Yixing's (ugly) shoes walking away and he mentally lets his guard down. It's then that Sehun's previously soft fingers threading through his hair pull harshly, forcing him to sit up.

 _At least now I don't have to worry about Yixing acting creepy or anything_ , he thinks through the pain. Then, as Chanyeol does, he whacks Sehun harshly on the neck, forcing the younger boy to retreat back towards his desk.

It doesn't keep the younger away for long, because before Chanyeol knows it, Sehun is standing behind him, testing if his hair is long enough to French braid. Chanyeol ignores him and focuses on his psychology homework.

Absobed in a textbook, Chanyeol doesn't notice the dark eyes watching the two of them, mind racing and anger flowing through veins like blood. He definitely doesn't see Baekhyun turn away quickly, eyes downcast and panicked.

\--

It's a Saturday when Baekhyun finally wakes up first. Chanyeol's eyes open and the same face that was just in his dream is hovering above his, eyes curious and bright.

He still thinks he's dreaming, even though he can tell something is different. When Baekhyun smiles down at him and he has the ability to speak, his mind goes blank. _Is the dream changing? I can speak now?_

"You're beautiful," he sputters out, almost as if it's by instinct. It's what he's always wanted to say, he supposes.

But instead of the smiling face remaining unchanged, it goes pink and moves out of Chanyeol's line of vision. Suddenly, he realizes that he's awake. That that wasn't a dream. He's a fucking idiot.

"Sorry!" he manages to spit out, face turning a deep red. He wants to die.

Baekhyun is a light pink shade, the corners of his lips upturning ever so slightly.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Baekhyun reassures, shaking his hands out in front of him as if to explain the no-big-deal-ness of the entire situation.

"I thought I was dreaming, and so I just said it, I didn't realize it was you for real. Sorry." Chanyeol rubs his sleepy eyes harshly, half out of shame and half because he can't believe he has eye boogers in front of Baekhyun.

"Me for real?" Baekhyun stops shaking his hands suddenly, alarm in his eyes. "Do you dream about me a lot?"

Chanyeol panics. How do I answer without sounding creepy? Is it even possible? He watches Baekhyun's usually calm posture transform into something more stiff, almost forced.

"I-- I dream about you an average amount," Chanyeol lies. He feels like he might throw up. "I dream about my other friends, too, trust me! I'm not trying to sound gross or weird or perverted, but you do have a good bone structure. So when I called you beautiful, I was just pointing out that you fit the beauty standards that most people hold themselves to. You're very pleasing to look at--"

"Are you sure?" Baekhyun sounds as if he knows Chanyeol's lying. That's not a big surprise, really, because he's always been a shit liar. He's just never been in a situation where he needed to lie so much.

"I--"

Baekhyun's posture reflects that he doesn't want a lie. Chanyeol is so so scared, but how else is he supposed to ever say it? If he backs out now, he knows he'll keep it until his dying day. He takes one last look at the shining boy in front of him, wearing one of Chanyeol's old t-shirts and with messy bed head.

 _Yeah_ , he thinks, _I can do this. I'll just tell him. It can't be that big of a deal._

"Okay, to tell you the truth, I dream about you a lot." Baekhyun's eyebrows quirk up. "Like, before I ever met you. I don't know how to explain it, it's like your face would be gone by the time I woke up, but I always had you in the back of my head? And then you walked into class and, holy shit, I was losing it. Because you were real and that's actually why I followed you. I'm so sorry."

Baekhyun looks blankly back at him. His dark eyes are devoid of emotion besides comprehension, and Chanyeol thinks that he might actually throw up right now. He'd pretty much just confessed his brain's fixation with Baekhyun's face, and he's being stared at like he's some moldy bread left on a grocery store shelf.

"You knew me before I got here?" is his only response. His voice is deeper than usual, more on edge. He's not angry, but there's something bubbling inside that Chanyeol knows isn't good. He nods gravely as an answer.

Chanyeol watches the cogs turn in the shorter's brain, and an emotion he can't decipher flashes in Baekhyun's eyes. Then, before he can do anything, the boy has turned and sprinted out of the room. By the time Chanyeol realizes what is happening, he hears Baekhyun opening the front door, escaping into the cold winter air in only pajamas.


	5. five

Chanyeol isn't fast enough. By the time he processes the fact that Baekhyun is loose on the streets, in less than a thin layer of clothes, for an unknown reason, it's too late. His soft black hair shakes in the wind, and his body is around the corner.

Something inside him clicks when he sees Baekhyun run, when the lithe figure of his dream boy is sprinting down the street. Chanyeol watches from the window, shocked, stupefied. He can't breathe.

Something about it -- the desperate way Baekhyun is running, the casual rip of Chanyeol's heart -- reminds him of that time. The time when his dad took Yoora and left and never came back.

Chanyeol had only been five then. He'd always imagined himself standing up for his mom when they argued, yelling at his dad to just leave. Sometimes the screaming grew too loud and he'd cover his ears in an attempt to ignore it, but every time he couldn't hold in the anger that bubbled inside. He never was good at hiding impulses, especially when he could hear his mom crying and arguing back.

It was times like those -- the hard times, as Chanyeol's mind referred to them, how he filed them deep in the corners of his memory -- that he'd imagine sprinting at his dad, yelling, screaming, throwing a fit. In his head he always won, always made mom stop crying and dad say sorry. For a skinny, too-tall five year old, however, that kind of vision stayed only as a vision.

Although he often thought it, though he cursed his dad out in the most vicious way a five year old could, in his heart he never expected it to really happen. The day he woke up to another argument, rain drizzling outside. It was almost his birthday, he remembers.

That day was different. Something inside Chanyeol clicked that morning, the same way it just clicked with Baekhyun. His heart felt too nervous. He knew something was wrong, and he couldn't stop anything from happening when the yelling finally ceased and he heard car doors closing. From his perch next to his window, he watched his father and Yoora climb into the car solemnly, bags packed.

Even though Yoora was his step-sister to begin with, she was there for him as long as his young brain could remember: a companion, someone to hold him when the arguments got too loud. Chanyeol thinks they may have taken a piece of his heart with them.

He cried for two weeks straight after. No matter how many times his mother tried to convince him he was guilt-free, Chanyeol believed all those times he'd imagined yelling at his father were the reason. Physically, he recovered, but Chanyeol never really got over the way his dad and Yoora were gone before he could wipe the sleep off of his eyes.

And watching Baekhyun bolt out of his life took a chunk of his heart all over again.

\--

It's been three days. Chanyeol can't eat, can't sleep. When he does sleep, he dreams of Baekhyun's smiling face and wakes up in a panic, arms reaching out for a boy that's long gone. He doesn't even know what caused the sudden run. His heart aches, burns, at the thought that his dumb dream was the breaking point.

He'd live his entire life in secrecy if it guaranteed Baekhyun's safety.

"You look like absolute shit, hyung. Do you want me to walk you to the nurse?" Sehun inquires quietly, almost gently. It's weird for Sehun to reserve this much compassion for Chanyeol, especially this early in the morning, unless something major has happened.

"No, I'm okay," he insists. He's not.

Chanyeol has searched every possible place he could think of. He went to the park, through the woods, around his neighborhood, and even took a bus to inspect the nearest neighboring town. No Baekhyun. No soft black hair and twinkling eyes; no glowing skin and shimmering smiles.

"Is it Baekhyun?" Sehun asks, looking at the unoccupied desk next to Chanyeol. The younger boy sounds genuinely sorry for him, and it shakes Chanyeol into a state of sadness he hadn't planned to show. It's the feeling you get when someone asks if you're okay, and then suddenly you realize you aren't.

"I can't find him," Chanyeol whispers. He slams his head down onto his arms, resting upon the desk. "I never told you, but he was staying with me."

Sehun's eyebrows shoot into his hairline. Half pity, half curiousity. "Why?" he asks slowly, cautiously.

"He never really told me much. He doesn't have anywhere else to go, Sehun. What if he's out there, dead?"

Sehun has no words of comfort. Really, what do you tell someone who's that out of it and devastated? Instead, he tries to pry more information out of his best friend, tries to find out more of the situation.

"What happened? Why did he leave?"

Chanyeol shakes his head morosely, eyes tearing up, and turns to stare at the wall. Sehun drops the subject with a soft pat on top of Chanyeol's left hand.

\--

Baekhyun is out of breath. He's tired of walking and running and moving, especially when it's so bright outside and his mind is telling him to _sleep sleep sleep,_ but he has nowhere to go if he stops moving.

So he trudges on, barefoot, into the cold mud. It doesn't bother him much, even though he knows it should. Even though the cold never truly affected him, he misses the face Chanyeol makes when he fears Baekhyun is too cold. He misses the soft warmth of Chanyeol's blankets, the smell of the taller after he showers, and the sound of someone breathing in the night. He misses Chanyeol, more specifically.

He knows he shouldn't, especially after the dream revelation, but his mind is telling him to sleep and then go find Chanyeol. Be warm and eat that nice soup that he doesn't need, find an excuse to hold onto Chanyeol's soft sleeve, take a hot shower so that he can put on an oversized hoodie and watch Chanyeol smile at him.

 _No_ , he chides himself, _I need to focus on going home. I can't stay here forever._

He has no way to go home. And after hearing about Chanyeol's dream, he wonders if he ever will. Is this allowed? he wonders, almost hopefully. He'd grown accustomed to big hands and a deep voice. He wonders if he even really wants to go home.

Jongdae had never told him anything about this. He'd heard about coming here, but he'd never heard of what happened if he stayed. He blames himself because he allowed himself to get swept up, to act like he really belonged in school. But when he'd seen Chanyeol standing there, smiling, joking around with classmates, his heart had jumped. Something inside of him told him follow him and get close to him he's so warm and his hands are soft but rough and his smile is the prettiest in the world and he will help you.

He thought it was intuition, but now he fears it could be something bigger.

He guesses his subconscious wins over his feet, proven by the fact that he's within blocks of Chanyeol's house. _Why did I do this?_ he wants to scream. _I'm not allowed to do this. Baekhyun, you're ruining everything. Nothing good will come of this._

His inner monologue is cut off, though, when he sees Chanyeol and Sehun walking slowly down the street perpendicular to his. Baekhyun is quick to jump to the side, hiding behind a bush. It seems comical, but the thumping of his heart resembles one of the main character in a thriller. He's so scared, mostly because he wants to run to Chanyeol and apologize and tell him everything.

 _Is that allowed?_ he asks himself over the pounding of his heart.

Chanyeol looks awful. Baekhyun's not a great judge of human beauty, much less healthiness, but he knows that Chanyeol's natural glow is dim. He knows that something is wrong, and he has a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with him. Voices carry across empty streets and harsh winter wind, letting Baekhyun overhear snippets of their conversation.

"You looked everywhere?" Sehun asks, deep voice going high in surprise.

"You wouldn't even believe. Everywhere," Chanyeol sighs out, shoulders shaking in the cold.

Baekhyun knows what they're talking about. He wants to cry looking at the tired, shivering boy walk down the road. He feels like shit. He did this to Chanyeol.

"What about your mom? Did she put out a missing persons report?"

"No, not yet. She had to wait two days in order for him to be 'missing.' Today when she went to file, they couldn't find his name in the database," Chanyeol shrugs lightly, though the weight is evident on his shoulders. "They think it's because he just moved, maybe his files got mixed up. I don't know. I just hope he's alive. It's my fault."

Baekhyun wants to scream that he's alive, that he's sorry, but he can't. He doesn't even know what's happening right now, and if he'll ever be able to figure it out or go home. He's panicking in a different way, one that he can't get Chanyeol involved in.

"Didn't you say he was fine sleeping in the cold? Maybe he's better in cold temperatures, hyung. I'm sure he's okay."

Baekhyun can hear the lies in Sehun's voice from meters away. He thinks it's sweet, though, that Sehun is trying to trick Chanyeol into relaxing.

"His hands were so cold! That's why I brought him back!" Chanyeol shakes his head too quickly, too violently. Baekhyun watches Sehun wipe tears off of the taller's cheeks and he feels a twinge of something in his stomach. He wants to wipe Chanyeol's tears. He wants to make the tears go away altogether.

The pair is around the corner, headed towards Chanyeol's house. Baekhyun breathes harshly, wanting them to turn around so he can hear the rest of the conversation. Something about the desperation in Chanyeol's voice when he talked about Baekhyun's cold hands makes his stomach churn.

For once, Baekhyun heeds the voice inside his head begging to see Chanyeol, to apologize, to tell him.

 _Is this allowed?_ his brain questions once again. At the thought of Chanyeol's warm hands and the tears slipping down his face, Baekhyun decides. _I don't care._

\--

After dinner, Chanyeol lays in the dark. He knows that it's not helping anything -- knows that he's only allowing himself to stay depressed -- but when the sun goes down at four in the afternoon, there's not much searching he can do.

It's then that he hears a soft knock on his window. Chanyeol shoots up, scared, and runs toward his door. He's not about any demon shit, especially when his room is completely dark.

It comes again, this time slightly louder. Chanyeol thinks he might pee himself if he pulls back the curtain, but he's also overwhelmingly curious. In a brief moment of bravery, he tiptoes to his window and yanks back the curtain.

There's nothing. He breathes a sigh of relief, shaky knees wobbling him back into a regular standing position. And then it happens again. The knock.

But this time it's from a rock on the window, and suddenly everything makes a little bit more sense. Chanyeol peers out the window, squinting.

When he sees soft black hair and muddy feet by his front porch, he almost screams. Sometimes Chanyeol curses his giant legs, but it's times like these he's thankful, because he can run down three stairs at once without losing balance. He finds himself at the front door within seconds, and it's opened to reveal a slightly disheveled Baekhyun.

Chanyeol almost cries with relief and immediately pulls the boy in by the wrist. Baekhyun melts into the heat of Chanyeol's hand and Chanyeol's house and Chanyeol's body, standing on his tippy toes to wrap skinny arms around the other's neck.

Chanyeol shuts the door as quickly as he opened it, one arm wrapped around the cold boy. Baekhyun inhales the warmth of Chanyeol, mind racing with I shouldn't do this I shouldn't do this I shouldn't do this.

The hug is interrupted by Chanyeol abruptly pulling apart, eyes scanning for wounds and bruises on the shorter boy's body. When he finds none, he smiles a tiny, watery smile and leads Baekhyun upstairs silently.

Chanyeol doesn't ask for an explanation, thank goodness, and instead opts for practically pushing Baekhyun into the bathroom.

"Take a hot shower. I'll grab you the warmest clothes I have and some leftovers."

It's an order, not a suggestion, and Baekhyun nods softly, thinking of the tears that trailed down the taller's cheeks that very afternoon.

By the time he's out from an admittedly pleasant hot shower -- he's getting used to these-- Chanyeol has somehow put a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and socks on the bathroom counter.

When he walks in wearing the overly warm articles of clothing, Chanyeol looks up as if he's just seen an angel. A giant smile breaks out across his face and he motions Baekhyun closer, pointing to a bowl of steaming noodles. Baekhyun struggles for a minute with the chopsticks, but Chanyeol's shown him before, and so he tries his best to avoid splashing broth on anything of Chanyeol's.

Chanyeol is extremely quiet, almost as if he's scared to say anything. Baekhyun knows he should start.

He puts down his bowl and takes a deep breath, looking in Chanyeol's eyes. He's scared and self-conscious and maybe kind of wants to just go to sleep and act as if he'd never run away, but he knows he can't. He needs to give Chanyeol a reason; he needs to explain why he ran away. Why he made him cry.

"I . . ." Baekhyun's slim, pale fingers drum a pattern on Chanyeol's bedspread. "I have a lot to tell you."


	6. six

He doesn't get the chance to elaborate because before Baekhyun can open his mouth again, the sound of Chanyeol's mother's footsteps echo down the hallway. 

Chanyeol jumps in shock and, for the first time, he seems to realize that he hadn't alerted his mom that Baekhyun came back. 

She's in the room before he can think of a way to explain, but it doesn't seem to matter. She sees Baekhyun and it's all over. Quick as lightning, she's on him, holding him tight, checking his arms and neck and face for bruises or scratches. 

Baekhyun doesn't know why his heart constricts painfully or he suddenly wants to cry, but with Chanyeol's mom's arms around him, he feels like he should. 

"Stupid!" She yells out in the least vicious way possible. "Chanyeol, why didn't you tell me?"

She's half crying, half nagging, but all comfort. 

"You stupid boy, are you back? When did you come back? Why did you ever leave?" Baekhyun smiles even though tears are starting to flow. He doesn't even mind being called a stupid boy, really. 

Baekhyun thinks he can definitely see where Chanyeol gets the warmth, the smiles, from. 

"I came back." Baekhyun looks down, dejected and suddenly overwhelmingly guilty. He hadn't even considered what she must've been feeling. "I'm sorry." 

Chanyeol's large hand reaches down to pat his mom's shoulder, his own way of apologizing. She leans into it as she finishes her inspection of Baekhyun. Deeming him safe and clean, mostly thanks to Chanyeol, Baekhyun thinks to himself, she squints her eyes and prepares to question him more.

"Did you eat?" 

Baekhyun nods, leaning his head towards the bowl on Chanyeol's bedside table. Chanyeol's mom looks over and then up to her son, rather proudly, before nodding. 

"You need to sleep. Don't you even think about going to school tomorrow," she warns Chanyeol. "Stay here and rest and, most importantly, don't leave." 

The last sentence comes out like a plea, and both of the boys nod solemnly, mostly out of guilt. 

Baekhyun had forced his tears down, but now his nose was runny. Chanyeol's mom reaches out softly, wiping his nose with her sleeve. 

"You scared me, Baekhyun," she whispers sadly. Baekhyun's eyes sting again, and he bows his head in shame. "Get some sleep." 

She gets up, taking the dishes with her, and gives Chanyeol a soft kiss on the forehead. Baekhyun looks up expectedly, almost sheepishly, and she smiles before pecking his forehead too. Baekhyun feels his heart constrict again, in that way that makes his chest feel warm. Chanyeol watches on, fascinated at the way Baekhyun glows, even with tears running down his cheeks. 

"Sleep," she chides one last time. "Chanyeol, don't you dare make him sleep on the floor. You can get your happy butt down there instead." 

Chanyeol laughs a little at that. Yeah, he thinks, I could sleep on the floor for him. I think I could do most anything for him. 

She shuts the door behind her, leaving the two boys engulfed in the darkness of Chanyeol's room once again. Baekhyun turns slowly, almost cautiously, before he finally chokes out: "I can tell you why I left later. Your mom wants us to sleep." 

Chanyeol smiles his brilliant smile, rolling his eyes. 

"It's only 9 p.m., but you do look tired. Let's sleep." 

Chanyeol moves carefully as he grabs a pillow and blanket, moving to sit on the floor. He feels a cold hand touch his as he bends down; the soft fingers squeeze his larger, warmer hands in a way that sends a shiver throughout his entire body. 

He looks up too quickly, meeting eyes with Baekhyun, who is still sat on the bed. Chanyeol ignores the way his cheeks flare up at the intense black of his eyes, opting to focus on the way his fingers feel in his hand. 

"Sleep on the bed, Chanyeol," the smaller's soft voice says, hinting at sadness and regret. "You deserve the bed. I'll just sleep on the floor, okay?" 

Chanyeol can see the tears glistening again and he knows that Baekhyun feels guilty. A little part of him rips inside, unable to think of Baekhyun agonizing over this any longer. 

"Sleep on the bed. I'm fine," he insists. 

"Then, let's share." 

Baekhyun says it so innocently -- he sounds so kind, tears welling up still -- and Chanyeol can't say no. Though his heart is struggling to beat at a normal pace, he nods like it's a great idea that won't affect him at all. 

Baekhyun scoots from the edge of the bed to the inside, up against the wall. Chanyeol follows, slipping under the covers and next to Baekhyun tentatively. He can feel the heat of the smaller boy next to him, he can smell the soap fresh from the shower. Chanyeol's heart jumps in ways that are definitely unhealthy. 

There, in the dark, next to Chanyeol, Baekhyun feels like he's safe. He can't describe it in any other way. Chanyeol is warm and would do anything for him and god, when he's with Chanyeol, he's safe. 

"I think mom's are nice," Baekhyun whispers into the darkness. He's sure the comment sounded dumb to Chanyeol, but for him it's a new discovery. He'd never really had one, never thought about having one -- he never considered what he'd missed out on.

Moments pass and he can't tell if Chanyeol heard him, so he opts to turn on his side, facing the other boy.

The taller boy smiles, though he doesn't think Baekhyun would be able to see it in the pitch black room, and he nods. He becomes aware, suddenly, that Baekhyun is right there, looking at him like he hung the stars. 

"My mom is nice," Chanyeol says softly, lovingly. "She's always there for me. And she loves you, too." 

She loves me? Baekhyun doubts it's true. He shakes his head vehemently. The thought of her smile and the way she looked so worried flash through his mind, the thought of being that cared for aching in his chest. 

And it wasn't just Chanyeol's mom; it was Chanyeol. Baekhyun had been replaying the worried look, the tight hug that Chanyeol had pulled him into. He can't even begin to process the fact that Chanyeol was so distraught, that he brought that much pain. 

"She loves you," Baekhyun corrects, and this time he nods, assured.

Chanyeol listens intently to the way he enunciates the words, the soft breath that blows on his cheek when he says it. The word love slipping from Baekhyun's mouth sends a jolt to his heart. He can't help it. 

Turning to face Baekhyun is a big mistake. The smaller boy looking over at him with sleepy eyes, with cold hands and a lazy smile, tears drying at the corner of his eyes. It's too much. 

He reaches out hesitantly, screaming at himself internally the entire time, before he softly wipes the remaining tears from the corners of Baekhyun's dark eyes. 

"She cares about you so much," Chanyeol reassures, hand still held out over the smaller's face. "I care about you too." 

Baekhyun's heart leaps. Suddenly the heat of the blankets and of Chanyeol's warm hand is too much, and he knows he needs to move, needs to find a way to show Chanyeol what his heart feels like.

"Chanyeol, can I kiss you?" 

The words bounce off of his lips and go straight through Chanyeol's brain. He can't process them, can't even breathe. He nods dumbly, only briefly considering the consequences of his action, before closing his eyes. He waits, not daring to breathe, too scared that Baekhyun will giggle and say it was a joke and roll away. 

Baekhyun licks his lips hesistantly, leaning towards the taller boy. He watches the way Chanyeol's eyes shut and how his eyelashes flutter against his cheekbones, as if he's forcing himself to keep his eyes closed. 

Baekhyun swallows nervously; he's never done this, but he knows he wants to. 

The distance between them is closed within two seconds, Baekhyun brushing his lips against Chanyeol's in a chaste display of affection. 

Chanyeol really can't breathe now, not with Baekhyun's soft mouth on top of his, not with cold hands making their way up to ghost his cheeks. 

He kisses back as soft as possible, to keep from scaring away Baekhyun, and brings his hands up, too, to hold Baekhyun's waist. 

Neither knows if they're doing this right, but when Baekhyun pulls back, breathless, he knows he doesn't want to stop. Chanyeol seems to feel the same way, grip tightening around Baekhyun's slim waist. This time the taller takes the initiative, pulling Baekhyun closer. 

Chanyeol is practicaly holding Baekhyun now, but he can't find it in himself to let go. Something about the way Baekhyun's hands warm up on his skin, the way his soft lips fit onto his, something about it is almost perfect. 

Baekhyun lets his tongue slip out, almost instinctively, and groans when Chanyeol welcomes it openly. The soft sounds Chanyeol makes in the back of his throat and the way his hand tightens on Baekhyun's waist makes something inside Baekhyun snap. He scooches closer until they're chest to chest, and his hands are carding through Chanyeol's hair. 

Chanyeol deepens the kiss then, almost to the point of being rough, holding Baekhyun tight. When Chanyeol forces his tongue deeper into Baekhyun's mouth, he also moves his grip lower, to the soft jut of Baekhyun's hip. 

Baekhyun moans out without seeming to realize, catching himself a second later. 

He pulls his lips back, embarrassed, but doesn't move away from Chanyeol's body. The heat is too nice, Chanyeol's scent is too inviting. 

"I'm sorry for leaving," Baekhyun whispers, the breath fanning out across Chanyeol's lips. He can feel the taller boy shiver into it, shaking his head as if to say he's forgiven. 

"You can tell me why later," Chanyeol promises, warm hands cradling Baekhyun's hips again. Baekhyun holds in a moan, knowing that this time it is only an affectionate hold. "I trust you." 

Baekhyun freezes at that, suddenly feeling too guilty and too hot and too loved in Chanyeol's house. I don't deserve that. You shouldn't trust me. You don't know me. 

"I trust you, Baekhyun," Chanyeol confirms, his hands slipping up to cup Baekhyun's cheeks. "I've seen you in my dreams as long as I can remember. I've always known you. I trust you." 

At that, Baekhyun leans in to nip at Chanyeol's lips again, softly. He wants to cry hearing those sweet words aimed towards him. Chanyeol can sense the change in mood and he sighs quietly, hands moving back to their regular position. 

"Sleep, Baekhyun," Chanyeol says softly against his lips. His heart is drumming impossibly loud and his entire body is burning up, but he knows that Baekhyun won't believe his words for now. He knows that he needs to rest. 

Baekhyun nods silently, one last kiss on Chanyeol's lips before he pulls away and curls up next to the taller boy. Chanyeol smiles as he feels Baekhyun find his hand under the covers and gives Baekhyun's now-warm hand a light squeeze. 

Baekhyun sleeps that night, engulfed by the smell of Chanyeol and warm hands, thinking of a boy who smiles like sunshine and trusts him, whether he's deserving or not. 

Chanyeol dreams of the same face, but this time he doesn't have to imagine what the velvety pink lips would feel like against his.


	7. seven

Chanyeol opens his eyes and the first thing he registers is Baekhyun's relaxed features, the slight swell in his pink lips, and the piece of black hair that sticks up sideways from behind the smaller boy's ear. He breathes in sharply, the image of Baekhyun's smiling face fading slowly into the recesses of his mind. From the dream into reality, Baekhyun glows. 

He doesn't want to wake him, especially when he thinks about what happened the night before. He'd never kissed someone before, much less so intensely, and the thought of facing Baekhyun after that is daunting. Instead, he starts to slide out of the bed as quietly as he can, opting to sneak out. It's not an easy feat when said boy is sprawled on top of his chest and half the bed. Thus, Chanyeol goes into stealth mode and shimmies as far as he can toward the edge of the bed. 

Baekhyun, however, has other ideas. He instinctively clings onto Chanyeol, whining when the taller starts to wiggle free. Chanyeol freezes, breathing heavily, praying for Baekhyun to fall asleep again. 

"Chanyeol?" his voice is raspy, bleary eyes unfocused. 

"Yeah?" he responds carefully, quietly. 

Baekhyun looks up then, his eyes coming in to focus directly on Chanyeol's dark brown ones. A twinge of pink paints Baekhyun's cheeks and he sits up rather hastily, avoiding looking at Chanyeol again. 

It's too quiet. Chanyeol knows that the both of them are thinking of what happened last night.  _Was he really tired and out of it and regrets it and will never look at me again?_  He decides to avoid the agony of watching Baekhyun ignore him and instead stands abruptly. He can feel the forgotten sleeping bag under his cold toes and feels himself blushing deeper.  

"I'm going to go wash my face and make some breakfast," Chanyeol explains, rubbing the back of his neck. Baekhyun nods and coughs awkwardly, suddenly fascinated with the pattern of Chanyeol's bedspread. 

He leaves as fast as possible, not forgetting to grab his phone from the nightstand. Baekhyun watches him out of the corner of his eye, unwavering. 

Baekhyun has made up his mind. From the time last night that he decided he didn't care -- that letting his safety be known to Chanyeol was too important -- he knew. In the back of his head, his conscious kept reminding him:  _you need to tell him; it's the only way you can accomplish anything here._  

He's not sure why he asked Chanyeol to kiss him, or why he couldn't stop himself, but something in his brain was screaming for him to press his lips against the taller's. Some kind of instinct kicked in, urging him to kiss Chanyeol and let the boy know he was safe. That he was safe and sorry, and that he wouldn't leave. 

Yeah, that was a guarantee. 

_No matter what happens, I won't run away. The way Chanyeol cried. . . he didn't deserve that. I won't ever hurt him like that again._

Baekhyun had decided: tell Chanyeol the truth and stop doing things he's not allowed to do. 

He can hear Chanyeol walking down the steps now, heading to make breakfast, which Baekhyun is sure will consist of burnt toast and awkward glances. 

He hops up almost silently, mind set.  _Tell Chanyeol everything. Get yourself under control._

\--

 **to "dickhead sehun":** help 

 **from "dickhead sehun":** what? its almost 8 and ur not at school....... u skipping??? u sick?

 **to "dickhead sehun":** baekhyuns back

 **to "dickhead sehun":** and something happened last night. ill tell u tmr .... im just freaking out

 **from "dickhead sehun":** im glad hes safe! have a sexy day off i guess 

Chanyeol sighs and ignores the tongue emojis, and most definitely the wet emojis, before turning to focus on breakfast. At least he can do one thing this morning without wanting to scream. 

Chanyeol hears the smaller boy pad down the steps only a few minutes after him, smelling of toothpaste and moisturizer. His heart catches at the sight of Baekhyun walking into the kitchen. He can't help it; today feels domestic. At the thought he pictures waking up next to Baekhyun everyday, a kiss on the lips as a good morning, sharing the bathroom, and smiling over breakfast. It shakes him to his core and he shakes his head to will it away. 

He takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down.  _Baekhyun didn't mean anything by the kiss. It's okay. Just act like it didn't happen._

"Good morning," Baekhyun says slowly in his soft way. Chanyeol nods and refocuses on frying the two eggs in the pan. 

A somewhat comfortable silence ensues as Chanyeol finishes cooking.

They start eating the eggs and toast at the kitchen counter instead of sitting down, and Baekhyun nods to himself, knowing that if he's going to say anything, now is the time. He needs to speak up before his resolve leaves him. 

"I want to tell you something, Chanyeol," Baekhyun pipes up suddenly. Chanyeol pauses mid bite, nodding slowly, a muffled "okay" slipping out. 

"Well, I'm not from here." 

Chanyeol looks at him expectantly, waiting for more. It doesn't come, at least not within seconds, and Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. 

"I know that. You transferred," Chanyeol responds doubtfully after swallowing the bite. Baekhyun shakes his head, face scrunched in an uncomfortable way, as if he's contemplating something. 

"Not like that. I don't know how to explain it," he holds his head in his hands, ignoring his food. "I'm not from  _here."_

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun uncover his face, gesturing wildly around the room. He doesn't stop there, and his arms wave above his head, gesturing to everything. It clicks. 

"Like  _here?"_ Chanyeol is in disbelief. 

"Not from  _here_. Yeah," Baekhyun watches Chanyeol carefully, gauging his reaction. 

Chanyeol is actually shaking. He can't believe that Baekhyun isn't from Korea, isn't even from Earth, probably. Then was him dream some kind of prophecy? Was he going to get abducted by aliens? Would he die? Would Baekhyun die for telling him? 

"You're fine, Chanyeol! I promise. Your dreams were normal, I just didn't know about them," Baekhyun sighs deeply. "It explains a lot, actually." 

Chanyeol's eyebrows quirk up then. 

"What does it explain? Wait, why is it normal? No -- wait, where  _are_ you from?" 

Baekhyun feels like he might suffocate. It's getting hard to explain, to vocalize. He nods, taking a deep breath, and reminds himself of the decision he'd made: tell Chanyeol everything. 

"I," a pregnant pause. "I'm what you guys would call a fallen star. Like a shooting star, who shoots to Earth." 

Suddenly, all the times that Chanyeol had felt Baekhyun was glowing, that he radiated warmth and happiness, it made sense. The bright smile, the twinkling eyes, it all matched. Chanyeol nods for him to continue and Baekhyun blushes softly, pleased by the fascination evident on Chanyeol's face. 

"Well, stars normally don't fall to Earth. We stay up there for millions and millions of years until we die. Only a few get to come down here, and usually it's because of an eclipse." 

Chanyeol doesn't consider himself an expert on science, much less astronomy, but he's fairly certain that eclipses and stars have nothing to do with each other. Doubt creeps into the back of his mind, but he listens on. He thinks of what he'd promised last night, before the kisses, the whispered  _I trust you._  

"Okay, I know this won't make much sense, but I'll try to explain it." Baekhyun's soft voice is entrancing and Chanyeol nods gravely, ready for anything he could say.  _I trust him I trust him I trust him._  

"The sun is in charge of the people -- it gives the light, the warmth, the day that keeps everyone alive. The moon is in charge of the nighttime and rules over the stars. So, on an eclipse, when the sun and moon meet, they choose one from the realm of light -- a person -- and one from the realm of darkness -- a star -- to meet as well. It's their way of keeping peace -- it's a trade, a symbol of unity." 

Chanyeol processes this, although ever fiber of his being is screaming  _this can't be true this can't be true science would've known they would've figured it out!_ After a minute of repeating Baekhyun's words in his mind, he comes to a sudden, violent revelation. 

"Are we . . . are we the star and the person?" he asks cautiously, as if he himself cannot accept what he's hearing, what he's saying, what he's thinking. 

"I think so. When the sun has someone in mind, the person will start noticing. They'll see the image of the star's human form, they'll hear their voice as their conscience, they'll only be able to draw that one face, or they'll dream of the star, until they arrive. You got the last type, I suppose." 

Chanyeol nods, albeit slowly. Baekhyun snakes a slim hand onto Chanyeol's, giving the taller boy's hand a firm squeeze, as if to remind him that he's real. 

"I know you probably don't believe me, but I felt like I needed to tell you," Baekhyun explains, his eyes downcast. Chanyeol can see rejection dwelling in his eyes, can tell that he thinks he'll be kicked out and called crazy. 

Chanyeol squeezes the smaller, colder hand back. "Then why did you leave when I told you about my dream? Wouldn't that explain why you came here?" 

Baekhyun laughs sadly, shaking his head. 

"It's a long story. I was scared because I didn't know why I'd shown up here. I didn't know why, but I saw you standing outside of school, near where I landed. I saw you and something told me that you would be able to help me, so I followed it. I fucking faked my way into school to follow you, when I should've known all along," Baekhyun looks up again, his dark eyes shining fiercely. "But that's the thing!" 

Baekhyun looks down at their hands, something soft blooming inside his chest. 

"No one knows what the stars and the humans are supposed to do." 

Chanyeol, who was also transfixed with their hands, looks up at that, alarmed. "What do you mean? There's no guide? The sun and moon don't explain that?" 

"No, they just drop the star here. That inkling that the sun planted is in you -- and I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different. But no star has ever come back to tell a story. They leave, and they never come back." 

Chanyeol wants to ask  _do they fall in love?_  but he stops himself, noticing that Baekhyun is near tears. He's obviously stressed over having what seems like no hope of return, and Chanyeol's heart breaks for him. 

"I love it here. There's constant changes in weather, there's people, there's sunsets! But -- but," Baekhyun's shoulders shake. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing, and I know I can't go back home." 

Chanyeol's hold on Baekhyun's hand tightens, bringing the boy closer to him, although he can feel a sharp stab at his heart. He wants to ask  _why can't you just stay here? is earth not enough? am I not enough?_

Instead, he allows Baekhyun to wipe tears onto his shoulder, muffled sobs racking through the both of them. 

"Hey, hey, Baekhyun," Chanyeol pulls the smaller boy away from him to look him in the eye. "It's okay, I'll help you. I mean, that's what I'm here for, right? You knew that I could help you. And I've dreamt about you every night for my entire life." 

Baekhyun perks up at this, tears stopping briefly. 

"I'll help you go home, okay?" Chanyeol asks, smiling brightly. Baekhyun nods, a small smile breaking through after all, showing Chanyeol some of the brilliance he only now recognizes Baekhyun's natural glow. 

Chanyeol thinks his heart can't take much more. Not after he finally found the boy he'd been dreaming of, rescued him, and kissed him. He thinks about Baekhyun wanting to go back home and his heart aches, but he smiles anyway. 

"I got you, Baekhyun. Don't worry. You'll be the first star to make it back home." 


	8. eight

Things get easier when Chanyeol starts lying to himself.

He lies that Baekhyun wanting to leave is okay, that the sun apparently "choosing" him is okay, and, most importantly, he lies that nothing happened between him and Baekhyun. 

Things don't change between them. Since that night, Baekhyun sleeps in bed with him, no questions asked. He sleeps facing the wall now, though, and Chanyeol is too scared for him to turn around.

Baekhyun still clings to his sleeve if they're in a situation he's unfamiliar with, but recently the shorter boy had been getting more independent and confident. It made Chanyeol proud. Watching Baekhyun excel in class and finally come to the cafeteria to eat with others gave him the illusion that Baekhyun was happy here, with him.

He keeps having to remind himself that, yeah, it is an illusion. Baekhyun's ultimate goal is to go home, and he's determined to make Baekhyun happy, even if it means he will leave one day.

Days pass. The longer he mulls over Baekhyun's secret, the more everything clicks into place. He trusts him; he knows that Baekhyun wouldn't lie. But something about him and Baekhyun being chosen rubs him the wrong way -- why them? 

He ponders this out loud one day on the walk to school and Baekhyun shrugs, saying only, "I don't know. I just woke up one day and I was here." 

"Are there others like you? Like, still alive?" Chanyeol questions as they walk into the bitter, early December wind. Baekhyun pulls his -- well, not really, it's Chanyeol's -- scarf tighter around his face. 

Baekhyun looks up, almost offended, and nods incredulously. 

"Of course. Eclipses happen a couple times a year, all across the world," Baekhyun's already soft voice is muffled by the scarf and he huffs in annoyance. "There has to be hundreds of fallen stars from the past years still here." 

"Can we find any of them, you think?" 

Baekhyun looks up in shock, suddenly, as if the thought had never occured to him. He nods slowly before spinning on his heel to face Chanyeol. There, on his tiptoes, he grabs Chanyeol by the scarf, shaking him in happiness. 

"We can use your . . ." he trails off, thinking for a second. "Laptop. Let's use your laptop. Wait, no. Use your phone. Get it out!" 

Chanyeol chuckles and pulls his phone out with numb hands. He frowns, unsure of what to type. 

"What would I look up? They can't just have a . . . website or something," Chanyeol is sure this plan won't pan out as well as Baekhyun assumed it would. The shorter nods resolutely, sighing. 

"I guess you're right," the disappointment in Baekhyun's voice is evident. This prompts Chanyeol to smile at him brightly in an attempt to raise his spirits. 

"We can search more tonight," he promises. "But we're almost late for school." 

Baekhyun looks down at the phone in Chanyeol's hand, his eyes searching for the time. 7:25, it reads. Baekhyun nods, grabbing Chanyeol's cold, free hand and walking them faster down the street. Chanyeol watches Baekhyun's soft black hair fly around in the wind and pale hand intertwined with his own and thinks to himself that, sure, he could get used to this. But he shouldn't, he reminds himself. 

\--

Baekhyun had started school again three days ago, but he was nowhere near caught up. He was good at what they did in class, but he couldn't find the motivation to do any work outside of school. Chanyeol was some kind of super student who finished everything in class, so he'd go home and be free to do what he wanted. And even though he had assigned work, Baekhyun tagged along in doing nothing. 

It finally caught up to him on the fourth day, when Do Kyungsoo, probably the scariest student council president in the world, came up to his desk with angry eyes. 

"Byun Baekhyun," he starts, and said boy can feel the anger radiating off of him. It's terrifying. "When you were gone, I searched for an address to get you your make-up work, but there was none. And then you come back to school and pick it up and apologize, but you don't do it? Is school a game to you?" 

Baekhyun sits there, eyes wide, feeling guilt pool in his stomach. He can feel the entire class's eyes on him. 

"Kyungsoo," a voice whispers suddenly and sternly, having just appeared behind the student council president. Baekhyun watches a tan hand wrap around the boy's slim waist. The voice, which Baekhyun now recognizes is Jongin, is calm when he speaks again, "Why are you yelling at him like that?" 

Kyungsoo turns around angrily, shrugging the hand around his waist off. 

"Jongin, I don't care that he's your friend. I'm the connection between the students and the teachers, and I want to do my job correctly." 

Jongin smiles at him, eyes turning into soft crescents, and his hand reclaims the waist comfortably, naturally. 

"He was sick, right Chanyeol?" the tallest boy looks over at his name, nodding enthusiastically. "See, Kyungsoo? He's still recovering. Chill out." 

Kyungsoo seems to fume more at being told to relax, but Jongin doesn't seem too scared. If anything, he smiles wider, winking at Baekhyun in a playful manner. 

"Don't ever tell me to chill out," Kyungsoo enunciates his words menacingly, but there's no real bite to them, at least not when he's facing Jongin. "Are you at least caught up in your work?" 

Jongin giggles in a way that answers no, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, allowing himself to be lead away by the hand on his waist. Baekhyun watches after them, mind still in shock over the scene Kyungsoo almost caused and the way Jongin had saved him so easily. 

His mind trails, thinking of what he and Chanyeol might look like, joined at the waist like that. He can feel blood rushing to his cheeks and he convinces himself, no, that's not something to wonder about. 

"Have you not been doing your homework?" Chanyeol's voice breaks him out of his reverie. He jumps, startled, and shakes his head no bashfully. 

It's not like he can explain to him that he had no interest in doing work while Chanyeol was sleeping or playing video games. He couldn't explain that the need to be with Chanyeol had distracted him the most.

"It's boring," is his only answer. Sehun laughs out loud, spinning around to show the glee on his face properly to Chanyeol. 

"It's boring!" he mimics Baekhyun, cackling. Baekhyun smiles a little, although Sehun sometimes scares him. The boy is just so loud and touchy and is always with Chanyeol, smiling and laughing. It irks him. 

"I'll help you finish it tonight," Chanyeol says it like it's a command, and Baekhyun nods softly, blushing at the thought of how that must've sounded to his classmates. 

"Oh? Tonight?" Sehun's moved to sit on Chanyeol's desk, long legs almost in Chanyeol's lap. He wiggles his eyebrows as much as he possibly can. "Study date? Am I invited?" 

Baekhyun watches Chanyeol push his younger friend off the desk violently, smacking his stomach. 

"No." 

Baekhyun smiles, something deep inside him satisfied with the thought of Chanyeol denying Sehun access to their study date. He's not entirely sure what a date is, he's never been on one, but he can tell it's something that involves a couple, something intimate. 

No. Baekhyun stops himself angrily. Focus on going home. You can't burden Chanyeol all your life; he said he'd help you. 

Conflicted inside, Baekhyun sets to work on the math problems in front of him. His mind is jumbled, thoughts of Chanyeol holding his waist, and even more urgent thoughts of stop it stop it stop it. 

\--

That night, Chanyeol sits them down on the floor of his room and pulls out a small table, the perfect height to do paperwork on from the floor. Chanyeol smiles and pulls out his laptop, set on looking for other fallen stars. Baekhyun distractedly stares at his books, unfocused, mostly just watching Chanyeol from across the small table. 

The taller has on wide-rimmed glasses that he only pulls out for two reasons: reading a book or using his laptop. With his hair wet from a shower and the glasses on, Baekhyun finds it hard to focus on derivatives. It's not like I need math. 

A few quiet minutes pass, Chanyeol's typing keeping the room from getting too silent. Baekhyun successfully survives one worksheet and he's on to the next before his mind can protest. 

"Baekhyun, do you know Kim Minseok?" 

The question breaks the peacefulness of the room, and Baekhyun's head snaps up. 

"No," Baekhyun sounds excited, intrigued. 

"I don't know if it's the same, but I found an article on this couple that met, and they say it was fate -- that it was the sun and the moon who put them together. Apparently, they opened up an orphanage? That's why they were interviewed," Chanyeol squints, despite his glasses, and Baekhyun's heart squeezes a little. "And this Kim Minseok guy, he's in the video, and he kind of glows like you, I don't know --" 

Baekhyun blushes. He didn't know he glowed, or that Chanyeol had noticed. Ignoring the fluttering in his stomach, he scoots to the other side of the table, crowding next to Chanyeol to watch the blurry video. 

"When we first met, I knew it was something like fate. I was attracted to her the second I saw her; she said my voice sounded familiar. We always say it's the sun and the moon who worked together to build our relationship," Minseok laughs, and Baekhyun can see what Chanyeol meant by glow. "And here we are now. We both love kids, and this is our dream job. I spend the entire day with the one I love, helping those who need it." 

Chanyeol chances a glance over to Baekhyun, watches the light in his eyes flicker. This is an actual lead. 

"I'd like to thank the moon, I guess," Minseok laughs again, and Baekhyun shrieks a little, pointing at the laptop. Chanyeol pauses immediately, heart frozen in his chest. This wasn't a lead, this was a goldmine. 

"You heard that, right? The moon! He's the one that glows, and he thanks the moon!" Baekhyun turns as quickly as possible, arms snaking around Chanyeol's wide shoulders. 

Chanyeol smiles because, really, Baekhyun's happiness is contagious. That, and he's secretly happy that the only pair they know of fell in love. It gives him a glimmer of hope, a ray of light to grasp onto. 

They hug and jump from their seats on the floor, Baekhyun squealing, until they finally pull back to examine the laptop again. 

"Can we contact them?" Baekhyun asks, and now it's his turn to squint at the computer. Reading came easily, but the technology aspect of it all still trips him up sometimes. 

Chanyeol scrolls at lightning speed, spotting a link to the foster home's website. He can feel Baekhyun tense next to him, excitement palpable. 

"I can email them right here. Should I?" 

Baekhyun's nod is immediate and he's practically sitting in Chanyeol's lap, studying the keys, ready to type. Chanyeol smiles fondly to himself as he watches the smaller boy adjust to fit in the space between Chanyeol and the laptop. 

Baekhyun reads out what he wants to say, then rethinks, and then he panics and deletes it all before finally deciding on a message. When the paragraph is Chanyeol approved, they hit send. 

to: kminseok1990@hotmail.com

Hello, this is Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol. We believe that you and your wife had the same experience as us, but we have only just met and are very confused. I immediately knew that Chanyeol was someone I could trust, and Chanyeol had dreamt of my face for years. We saw the article about you and your wife, and think it would be amazing if we ended up being in the same situation. If you know what we mean, please contact us!!! 

Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun vibrating with energy, overly excited at the prospect of meeting someone who has been through the same experience. 

Baekhyun is shaking. He can't even imagine what he would ask first. Does he know any other fallen stars? What are their relationships to the people the moon chose for them? Has anyone ever gone back? He's so scared that this is a false lead, but something about the smile on Minseok's face and the glow of his pale skin tells Baekhyun there's no other explanation. 

Chanyeol softly taps Baekhyun's back, effecitvely getting him out of his thoughts, and nods back towards the homework he needs to do. Baekhyun nods, a shy smile spreading as he climbs away from Chanyeol's figure. He hadn't realized they were so close. 

Twenty minutes later, as Chanyeol plays some game on his computer and Baekhyun finishes up a worksheet for his history class, they hear a ding. The pair make eye contact, stomachs fluttering nervously. 

Chanyeol takes a gulp and clicks on the email icon, fearing for any answer they could receive. Baekhyun is back in his lap, unashamed this time, and Chanyeol can smell the shampoo from last night's shower wafting from his sleek hair. He could reach out and touch it and kiss his head and -- 

from: kminseok1990@hotmail.com

I think I know exactly what you two experienced. I assume that Chanyeol is of the sun? You two should stop by the orphanage whenever you can. We would be delighted to meet others like us!

Baekhyun screams and lunges fully into Chanyeol's lap, arms twined so tightly around his neck that he can barely breathe. He's crying and Chanyeol is holding him, scratching his back and whispering "I'm so happy for you." 

Baekhyun pulls away, joyful tears in his eyes, before he whispers, "you are of the sun!" 

And then he kisses him, straight on the lips, in such a blissful way that Chanyeol closes his eyes immediately. They rock back and forth, tears and whispers and hugs covered by the gentle movements of their lips against the other's.

It's only when Baekhyun pulls back, obviously shocked at himself, that Chanyeol closes the distance again, whispering, "you are of the moon" against his lips.


	9. nine

It's times like this, when they're laying in the dark, hands close enough to hold each other, that Baekhyun thinks he could stay here. And then he remembers that he and Chanyeol have already planned to make the trip down south to visit Minseok and his wife this weekend.

He's scared to find out what they might know, but right now is enough.

He can hear Chanyeol's soft breathing and can see the stars from the window past Chanyeol's head. He can see the dimple in Chanyeol's cheek when he giggles at something Baekhyun says, can hear the honey dripping from his voice when he tells stories about his childhood.

"Once, me and my mom and Yoora, we went out because we had a snow day --"

Baekhyun watches Chanyeol's face fall for a split second before he's back to normal, smiling in the darkness.

"A-And we got in a big snowball fight. And we made hot cocoa afterwards and cuddled on the couch," Chanyeol's smile widens, and Baekhyun is transfixed in the way his whole face seems to sparkle. "It was like a movie, honestly. It's my best memory, I think."

Baekhyun can tell that his eyes are full of fondness, but he can also sense the dim sadness in them. He knows that something about Yoora, the girl he'd never mentioned before, is the reason.

_I want to know everything about him. I want to make sure he doesn't get sad. I want to have a snowball fight and drink hot cocoa, whatever that is._

"Do you have a favorite memory?" Chanyeol whispers, as if he's scared to ask it. Baekhyun knows why. Even after he told Chanyeol his secret, he didn't disclose much about his past.

It's not like he had much to disclose, though.

"I don't," Baekhyun shrugs a little. "We didn't do much. I sat up there, I watched the sun and the moon move, and I waited for my turn to die."

It sounds so sad, he realizes. When he was up in the dark expanse, where the only other thing he heard was sometimes the faint voice of Jongdae, he'd never considered it lonely.

But now, looking at Chanyeol from inches away, laying almost shoulder to shoulder in a small bed, sharing stories, he feels that maybe home was never really home.

"I wish I had stories to tell," Baekhyun says almost glumly. He watches Chanyeol's thick fingers move to tap a beat onto his wrist, as if he's comforting him.

"Do you have cities? Do stars talk to each other?" Chanyeol's voice is so close and so deep, his questions sincere.

"No to the cities," Baekhyun laughs, a tinkling bell in the eerie night silence. "Maybe closer to the center of the galaxy, I guess."

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows, as if questioning this information.

"I was too far away from other stars. I just sat there. I can't describe it. You guys don't have a state of being that describes it. I didn't look like this," Baekhyun softly touches his face, as if realizing for the first time that it was uniquely his. "I was just . . . energy. I had a form, but it was nothing like this. I couldn't touch anyone, I could only be contained where I'd always been."

Chanyeol reaches out to softly touch his cheek, too. Baekhyun blushes and lets him do it, rough fingers drawing shapes onto his cheekbones.

"Friends?"

Baekhyun thinks hard. "Not really. There was one star, the one closest to me. He was still far away. I could hear his voice sometimes, but it was always so distant. He told me about the sun and the moon. He was the only voice I'd ever heard, besides my own, before I came here."

Baekhyun is still reeling from the lull of Chanyeol's fingers against the sensitive skin of his cheeks. He's positive he's completely flushed.

Chanyeol observes Baekhyun's faltering voice and pulls his hand away from the boy's face slowly. He wonders if Baekhyun was okay, all those years, without anyone to really talk to.

"Is that why you were so quiet when you got here?" Chanyeol questions, hurt evident in his voice. The rest of the question is left unsaid, but Baekhyun hears the Because you were always alone? clearly.

He doesn't know why he's so sad, really, he's never thought of himself as lonely or pitiful. But something in Chanyeol's soft brown eyes tells him that the taller is worried.

"Yeah, I guess. I didn't have anyone to talk to. I didn't know how to," Baekhyun blushes, suddenly feeling ashamed. "Sorry for holding onto your sleeve all the time. I didn't know how to get your attention without it. You intimidated me."

Chanyeol laughs loudly, and this time it's his genuine booming laugh, shaking the bed as he flops around.

"Me? Intimidating?"

Baekhyun frowns. _Why is unbelievable that he's intimidating?_ He doesn't think his fear was unjustified.

"You're tall and smart and handsome. I didn't know what I was doing and I just followed you around. How was I not supposed to be intimidated?"

Chanyeol sits up in bed then, suddenly, and he looks down at Baekhyun incredulously. The wide-eyed look Baekhyun gives him back, laying practically under him, sends a quick shiver down his spine.

"What about now?" Chanyeol asks, voice low, curious. A small, rectangular smile breaks out across Baekhyun's face, leaving Chanyeol breathless in a good way.

"You don't scare me anymore, I think," Baekhyun says flippantly, turning his back to the other boy, whispering, "Good night, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol takes twenty minutes longer than Baekhyun to drift off to sleep, the image of a certain smile lingering on his mind.

\--

There's a group project announced the next day. Baekhyun immediately turns to make eye contact with Chanyeol, praying that he'll be spared the struggle of dealing with other students. Chanyeol looks back at him, an affectionate twinkle in his eye. Baekhyun gulps hard and his heart drums away to an erratic beat.

"I will be choosing the pairs," Mr. Lee's voice rings through like an alarm to the duo in the back of the room. Baekhyun's heart is now pounding at an alarming rate for different reasons completely.

Chanyeol panics, thinking of all the possibilities of what could go wrong if he and Baekhyun aren't together.

"Sehun and Sunyoung," they high-five happily, "Jongin and Taeyong; Chanyeol and Seungwan; Baekhyun and Yixing --"

Chanyeol stops listening. He can't help it, but, god, he's so mad.

They move to work with their partners, and Chanyeol thinks he might lose it just by looking at the smug face Yixing is making. Baekhyun watches in shock, noticing the hateful glares Chanyeol is sending out. He's never made that face. Ever. _Is he mad at me?_

"Baekhyun, I'm glad we get to learn about biology together!" Yixing's voices cuts through, confident and elated all at once. Chanyeol listens to the soft "yeah" sound Baekhyun makes back and rolls his eyes, ready to just get this project over with.

He's not trying to be rude, he just sees the way Yixing looks hungrily at Baekhyun, sweet smile cunning and friendly touches suggestive.

"Chanyeol, are you okay?" Seungwan asks carefully as she takes a seat near the tall boy. Chanyeol nods, suddenly friendly, and puts the boiling anger away in the pit of his stomach for a moment. He needs to be civil. He needs a good grade.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling a little off," he lies. Seungwan doesn't question it and instead smiles brightly back, pulling out a folder. She tucks a strand of long hair behind her ear delicately and Chanyeol watches every moment.

Seungwan is so small. She has little hands and long hair and a button nose, all tied together with a thin smile. He dwarfs her, all 6 foot something of his gangly body. He almost laughs a he imagines them presenting together, one too tall and one too short.

He thanks Seungwan internally for being so short and giving him a distraction from the debauchery going on only a table over. He can hear Baekhyun laughing softly and refuses to spare another look towards the two boys, focusing instead on getting his packet done.

The bell rings and Chanyeol sighs in relief, ready to walk home with Baekhyun and maybe take a nap. He thinks about what Baekhyun might want for an afternoon snack -- is it too cold for icecream?

And then he looks over at Yixing. Said boy is "cleaning up" his stuff from the desk, pressed closely to Baekhyun, hand wrapped around his elbow.

Chanyeol feels Seungwan stand up next to him, bowing her head a little as a goodbye before she's out of the classroom. Chanyeol's eyes still haven't moved, and he doesn't think they ever would've if Baekhyun hadn't looked up at that moment.

The taller's head snaps back down, guilt and jealousy filling him to the brim.

Baekhyun's eyebrows furrow. He's confused and feels so so ignored. And Yixing is hanging off of him, but he has no idea how to shake the other.

"Why don't we work on it some more right now? You're not in after school activities, right?" Baekhyun shakes his head reluctantly. He wishes Chanyeol would just look at him. "We can go to my house, it's really close to the school."

Chanyeol had been packing his bag the entire time, acting as if he's not eavesdropping. He stills at Yixing's last statement, heat bubbling in his stomach in an awful way.

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun says his name like it's a question. He looks up, angry.

Baekhyun's dark eyes are looking at him as if urging him to create an excuse. Chanyeol watches the way Yixing scans over Baekhyun's face, noting the twitch in the boy's lips as he takes in the features. He's suddenly so mad, so blinded with the thought of Yixing looking at Baekhyun like that, that he ignores the face Baekhyun makes.

He picks up his backpack, ignoring the pair. "Get home safely."

Baekhyun knows that those words mean more when they live together, and he especially knows that Chanyeol is mad at him.

"Here, Baek, I'll grab your bag for you!" Yixing says happily, smugly.

Chanyeol hears it as he leaves the classroom. His eyes blur a little, hands gripping so tight on his backpack straps that the knuckles turn white. He makes it down one flight of stairs before he's tackled and pulled off to a row of lockers.

"Chanyeol, what the fuck!" Sehun's voice is loud. For once, his best friend sounds legitimately pissed.

"What?" Chanyeol sputters out in surprise. "What?"

"You think you're cool if you let them go like that? I watched all of that. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Chanyeol sighs and crosses his arms. He's so frustrated. Now is not the time for Sehun to start yelling at him.

"That's not going to accomplish anything. You like Baekhyun, and so does Yixing, but you _like_ him. Yixing only wants to get in his pants, you know."

Chanyeol sees red at the description, at the thought of Baekhyun moaning underneath Yixing. It sends a hot wave of anger through him again, and he resists stomping back up the stairs.

"Stop!" Chanyeol half shouts, rubbing the back of his neck violently. "You think I should just go in there and tell Yixing to go fuck himself? Baekhyun would hate me. If they're going to work on a project, they can work on a project. I heard him giggling with Yixing, it's not like they won't have a good time."

Sehun laughs bitterly. "You're so fucking stupid. Did you not see how Baekhyun looked at you? He wanted you to make an excuse, to get him out of it. Don't you get that he likes you? He always looks at you like you're the sun, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol blushes because, yeah, that hit a little too close to home.

"And you left him there, with some guy that's going to try and make a move on him when he doesn't want it. Are you happy now? You feel mature for walking away?"

Chanyeol flushes again, but now he's ashamed. The look in Baekhyun's eyes flashes through his mind. His heart jumps and he starts up the stairs, determined.

When he walks into the classroom, Baekhyun is picking up his backpack and Yixing is making a move to slip his hand around the curve of Baekhyun's waist. Suddenly logic is out of the window.

As the arm wraps around Baekhyun, the smaller boy jumps in shock and he looks upward uncomfortably. Chanyeol barges up to the both of them, harshly grabbing Yixing's arm and pushing him away. He purposely puts himself in front of Baekhyun, effectively blocking the boy, and he looks down at Yixing with fire in his eyes.

"What the fuck, Chanyeol?" Yixing shouts, looking down at his recently grabbed arm. Chanyeol looks down, too, seeing faint fingerprints on his forearm. He feels a pang of guilt, but it's gone when Yixing speaks next. "What's your problem? Baekhyun wasn't protesting."

"Not protesting doesn't mean you can do it. Did he say he wanted you to touch him? Did he look like he wanted you to touch him? I didn't see that," Chanyeol retorts bitterly. He watches mirth glow in Yixing's eyes.

"And you think he wants you to touch him? Get over it, Chanyeol. Just because you're tall doesn't mean it makes up for your face and personality."

Chanyeol moves forward to grab Yixing by the collar, but he's stopped when familiar fingers find their way to his hand, holding it tightly. He turns to look at Baekhyun, watching the confusion swimming in the other's eyes.

"Let's go," Baekhyun whispers in a desperate way. Chanyeol can see that he's uncomfortable and scared. He suddenly regrets raising his voice and he nods in what he hopes is an apologetic way.

They leave then, Chanyeol panting with anger. Baekhyun still can't believe what just happened. There are so many things running through his mind. He feels suffocated.

It's only when they're out of the building and into the chilled air that Chanyeol feels like he can breathe.

"I'm sorry for leaving you earlier," he mumbles. Baekhyun squints his eyes, watching the conflicted emotions wash over Chanyeol's face.

"Why did you get mad at me?" Baekhyun asks. He doesn't understand what he did wrong, doesn't think he'll ever understand.

"I'm a dumbass. I got mad because he kept touching you and making you laugh and -- " Chanyeol makes an exasperated noise from the back of his throat and musses his hair roughly. "I'm sorry. I let it get the best of me. We should've just left when you first looked at me, I --"

"Jealousy?" Baekhyun asks, eyebrows raised. Chanyeol looks away then, too embarrassed, before nodding the slightest bit.

"I shouldn't have been. It's just, he makes me so mad. He always talks to you like, like you're some object, like he just wants to sleep with you or something! And the look in his eyes when he watches you --"

Baekhyun watches the boy stutter, fail to express his emotions, and turn away with scarlet cheeks.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I won't leave you with him, if you don't want to be with him," Chanyeol's voice is low and sad, regretful. "I get it if you want me to just leave you guys alone. I was out of place, and he's right, I really shouldn't just assume that you'd pick me over him. I'm sorry."

Baekhyun halts his walking, suddenly angry. He can see the regret in Chanyeol's eyes; he can see the self-ridicule he's putting himself through.

"He's wrong," Baekhyun says simply. "I'd let you touch me. I'd always pick you, Chanyeol."


	10. ten

It's only half past five in the morning, which is earlier than Chanyeol has ever woken him up for school, and he is sitting in a car. It's a lot to process.

He'd known what cars were since the first day he arrived -- had seen them on the street and figured out they were used to take people from place to place -- and knew that there were different types. But he and Chanyeol walked to school since they were so close; he'd never ridden in one.

Until this morning.

It was the Saturday they'd told Minseok that they'd come and meet him, and Chanyeol had woken him up a little before five in order to make it across the entire country by midday. Mrs. Park had allowed to let Chanyeol take her car without knowing the real reason -- they'd fibbed and said that they needed to go down south, towards the beach, to collect samples for a school project.

He looks over blearily, taking in the image of Chanyeol in the driver's seat, big coat on and one hand resting on the wheel. Baekhyun isn't sure if this always happens when someone drives, but being behind the wheel makes him so attractive. Baekhyun can't stop watching the way his eyes focus on the road, the way he licks his lips with concentration.

"Hungry?" Chanyeol asks, his voice still rough from sleep. Baekhyun snaps out of his trance to nod almost instinctively. He notes the way Chanyeol's eyes change at the question, as if indicating that he's hungry, too.

"Yeah. And tired."

Chanyeol looks over then, for a split second, and Baekhyun catches the worried look in his eyes. Warmth blossoms in his chest and he can feel his cheeks heat up slightly. It's such a silly thing to blush about, but he can't believe Chanyeol is so concerned about him.

"Eat first and then sleep. I'm getting coffee so I can stay awake to drive," Chanyeol explains in that tired voice. Baekhyun turns away, nodding in silent agreement, trying to ignore the faint pink he could see on Chanyeol's cheeks.

He drifts off for a few minutes, waking up only when Chanyeol's warm hand is touching his, shaking his wrist. He shakes his head out of embarrassment. _I'm meeting someone else like me today. I should be excited. I should be scared to have never been in a car before. I shouldn't be able to sleep._

"Baekhyun, wake up, we're at a drive-thru. What do you want?"

Baekhyun is dumbfounded looking at the giant menu. It's all brightly lit, too bright for such a dark time of the day, he thinks, and the options are endless and foreign.

"Whatever you get, I guess."

Chanyeol nods and pulls forward, ordering two of some kind of breakfast sandwich. In his haze of sleepiness, he recognizes a soft look that Chanyeol gives him. It brings a warmth to his heart and suddenly he's dozing off again, knowing that he's safe.

A warm, rough hand pulls him back into reality. Chanyeol is holding his hand, albeit softly, whispering, "You need to eat."

Baekhyun nods and sits up for real this time, determined to stay awake. A few minutes later, with a paper bag full of food and Chanyeol drinking an iced americano, the pair officially set off. Baekhyun watches as the faintest pink tints the horizon. It's then he realizes he's never stayed awake to see a sunrise on Earth, never knew that this is what he'd been missing out on.

"Does it always look like that?" Baekhyun asks faintly, transfixed. Chanyeol laughs a little before taking a sip of his coffee, wincing slightly at the bitterness.

"Sometimes it's only grey, if it's cloudy or rainy. Sometimes it looks more orange. Sometimes yellow. Depends on the day, I guess," he answers, only now realizing that Baekhyun had seemed so amazed because he'd never seen one at all. "It's always pretty, though. The sun will come soon."

Baekhyun swivels in his seat, looking out the window expectantly. He starts to get a little dizzy because the car is going by so fast and so is the landscape and, god, what would happen if they hit something right now? He turns again, overwhelmed, and refocuses on the food Chanyeol had bought.

"Can you really drive?" Baekhyun asks around his sandwich. "It looks hard. We're going so fast."

Chanyeol lets a boisterous laugh slip out at the smaller boy's comment, eyes crinkling in a fond way. He knows that it's all so new to Baekhyun, but he can't help but to be amused when he's so cute.

"I took a driver's education course a year ago. I have a license," he reassures, reaching out to touch Baekhyun's shoulder softly. "And there's no one else on the roads -- it's not even six yet. Don't worry."

Baekhyun leans into the hand on his shoulder, suddenly sleepy again. Chanyeol has that effect on him: makes him comfortable, allows him to relax. As soon as it came, the touch is gone and Baekhyun is left wanting. He finishes eating soon after and shifts in the seat, trying to get comfortable.

He really wants to to take a nap, but he doesn't want Chanyeol to be lonely and tired.

"Baek, sleep," Chanyeol chides when he finally notices the smaller boy fighting his fluttering eyelids. Baekhyun makes a whiny noise, feeling guilty, and he shakes his head.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Baekhyun insists, despite his body's protests. It registers slowly somewhere in Chanyeol's mind that he'd said Baek, not Baekhyun, and he cringes a little at how he'd let it slip. It seems so intimate and so, so couple-y. He has to remind himself softly that Baekhyun will leave soon.

"I'll be fine, too. I have coffee and I'm about to connect my phone so I have music. I'll focus on driving, you focus on resting up," Chanyeol punctuates his sentence by picking up his phone, moving to plug in the aux cord.

Baekhyun listens as the first quiet strum of a guitar filters through the car. He doesn't recognize any songs, much less this one, but he knows that something about it is very Chanyeol. "Now, sleep. You can't be sleepy when we meet with Minseok and his wife later, right?"

Baekhyun nods reluctantly, shifting to get into a more comfortable position. He finds out soon enough that this is a hard feat to accomplish and so he reaches out for one thing he knows will bring comfort -- Chanyeol's hand.

He doesn't know when it started happening, but recently he's only been able to sleep well if Chanyeol holds his hand. Despite the distance, forcibly placed by Baekhyun, between them, he would still reach out to feel for the taller's rough hand. It brought him a peace he didn't know fingertips could exhibit.

Chanyeol allows him to take his free hand, fingers twining together naturally, and gulps hard, determined to focus on the road.

Baekhyun's eyes shut, finally, and he's snoring softly within minutes. Chanyeol stretches his neck but doesn't remove his hand from Baekhyun's. The song changes from a ballad to slow indie rock and Chanyeol sighs, apprehensive but excited.

He can't wait for Baekhyun to meet another star. To ask questions. To share experiences.

But no matter how happy he is for Baekhyun, there is some deep place inside his heart that aches at the thought of the boy getting what he wants: to go home. He decides to ignore it for Baekhyun's happiness. He nods slowly, eyes raking over the smaller boy's relaxed face and soft fingers, realizing that he'd do anything for Baekhyun.

It comes then, the sudden realization that he is in love with Baekhyun.

\--

Minseok's orphanage is beautiful. It's near the sea, with only a two minute walk down to the beach, and the entire yard is covered in different types of flowers and bushes. Baekhyun examines them carefully, fascinated, as the pair pull up on the gravel driveway. It's only eleven and the sun is shining brightly despite the freezing weather. Baekhyun feels like he's living a dream.

"I'm nervous," he admits, eyes meeting Chanyeol's as the taller walks around from the driver's side. The taller boy wraps his arm around Baekhyun for a split second, giving his arm a gentle squeeze, before he retracts it. Baekhyun wishes it would've stayed there; Chanyeol wishes he had enough self control to avoid touching Baekhyun.

"I'm sure they'll love you," Chanyeol reassures.

 _I love you. I'm in love with you._ He keeps the second half of his sentence internalized, too scared to think of Baekhyun leaving him after he'd finally admitted it. What if he wasn't enough? Or worse, what if he was enough and Baekhyun did stay, but the boy was never truly happy?

When they knock on the door, Baekhyun steels himself for an awkward encounter, a rejection. He's so scared. He'd never talked to a star that wasn't Jongdae, much less interacted with one in real life. He's suddenly self-conscious, worried about whether his hair is flat or if he looks ridiculous in Chanyeol's coat, three sizes too big for him.

"Hello?" the door is opened by a pretty woman, a few inches shorter than Baekhyun. She smiles immediately, obviously excited, before turning away from the pair on her porch to scream at her husband. "Honey! They're here!"

Chanyeol can hear not one pair of feet but many sprinting towards the door. He turns to look down at Baekhyun, obviously confused, and is given the same face back. Now he's nervous too.

"Hello," Minseok greets breathlessly once he finally makes it to the doorframe. He's a little bit shorter than Baekhyun, with a tiny smile and expressive eyes. His wife registers, finally, that it's extremely cold outside and ushers them in.

Chanyeol has been an only child for the last thirteen years of his life and Baekhyun has never been around a child. But now, they're surrounded by eight kids. It has Baekhyun scooting closer to the taller boy, shifting uncomfortably, as if he doesn't know what to do with their big eyes looking at him like that.

"These are the kids," Minseok says, gesturing to the group of children looking up at them. Chanyeol gives them a big, goofy smile in exchange for a greeting and Baekhyun follows suit with the most sincere smile he can muster.

"I'm Minseok, and this is --"

"Heeyeon, his wife," she shoots the pair a giant smile and pushes them softly towards a room in the back of the house. They can only allow themselves to be led, giving each other confused glances. They settle onto a big couch in what the teenagers deduce to be a large living room connected to the kitchen.

"So, tell us everything. Everything," Heeyeon clarifies, her smile growing impossibly wider. Baekhyun thinks that she's pretty and nice and loud -- perfect for the more reserved man next to her.

"Sweetie, they just met us, you can't expect them to tell us _everything_ ," Minseok corrects. Chanyeol doesn't fail to notice the suggestion the couple is making, as if discussing everything could lead to more inappropriate conversations. Chanyeol almost blushes, but he tries his best to control it.

Baekhyun watches the tender way the couple interact and suddenly he's reminded of how he'd felt when Jongin held Kyungsoo. He wanted that.

"Uhm, well," Baekhyun interjects, ending the silent war between the couple. "I fell here about a month ago, I guess. Early November?"

Chanyeol feels all three pairs of eyes turning to focus on him and he nods dumbly.

"Early November, yeah," Chanyeol agrees, feeling embarrassed from the curious looks Heeyeon is giving him.

"And when I woke up, I was in the woods, a little bit away from his," his head turns to Chanyeol again, "school. So I started walking around and I saw him outside the school, talking to someone, and --"

"And you knew?" Minseok interrupts. Baekhyun blushes deeply but nods anyway. Heeyeon flashes Chanyeol a proud smile, hand coming to rest on her husband's knee.

"I mean, he just gave off like, warm vibes. If that makes any sense."

Minseok nods enthusiastically, confidently. "I know exactly what you mean. I knew right away with Heeyeon, too."

Baekhyun turns red at the suggestion that he and Chanyeol are comparable to a married couple. He hates how much he likes it. _I need to go home. I can't keep burdening Chanyeol. That's why I came here._

"So? How did you meet him? Just go up and tell him? That's what Minseok did. He's so straight-forward that it's a little embarrassing."

Minseok glares at his wife, turning away from her slightly, as if to signal that she shouldn't make fun of him. She giggles in response, rolling her eyes, and scoots closer to him lovingly.

Chanyeol watches with wide eyes, fingers suddenly wanting to hold Baekhyun's hand and show that, yeah, they're close too. Instead, he focuses on the way Baekhyun's dark eyes are watching the couple.

"I, uhm, I faked being a student at the school," Baekhyun sounds utterly embarrassed. His cheeks show it, turning the deepest shade of red Chanyeol's ever seen on a face.

"Faked?" Heeyeon screeches and Minseok bursts into laughter. The two bounce off of each other, teary eyes making contact and leading them into another fit of giggles.

"Yeah, faked," Baekhyun rubs the back of his neck with his long, pale fingers, and Chanyeol watches every move. "I went to the first teacher I saw and said that I just moved here. I said I'd forgotten my paper work and uniform when they asked for them -- and then I got put in Chanyeol's class."

Minseok only nods for him to continue, eyes darting to Chanyeol for a split second. He notices the way the tall boy's eyes are focused, almost dreamily, on the shape of Baekhyun's mouth.

"I actually, uh, followed him," Chanyeol confesses suddenly. He tears his eyes away from Baekhyun to look toward the couple. "He acted really weird at school. So one day I followed him. And I found him in the woods -- and of course I panicked and I took him back with me. My mom's really nice, so she let him stay with us."

"Does your mom know? " Heeyeon questions.

"No. She knows that he has no family and that he doesn't have another place to go, but nothing about the moon or the sun or anything. I barely even know about that, really. I just found out recently. I'm in a little bit of shock."

Baekhyun turns to Chanyeol with tender eyes. He reaches one finger out to wrap around Chanyeol's thumb, as if to reassure him. He doesn't know of what, but he's sure that he needs Chanyeol to be comfortable. Chanyeol accepts it gratefully; he'd been holding back the urge to hold Baekhyun's hand since they got out of the car.

"How did you recognize him? What was the sign of Baekhyun, I mean," Heeyeon's voice is extremely curious. Chanyeol doesn't miss the way her eyes dart down to their fingers, but he chooses to ignore it in favor of answering the question.

"Dreams. I dreamed about his face every night for about, uh, ten years."

Baekhyun perks up then, shocked. "It didn't start a little bit before I came? Ten years?"

Minseok looks astonished, too.

"Heeyeon only heard my voice as her conscience in her head for a few months. That's why she noticed, because it had just recently changed when I came up and asked her to go on a walk with me. That's crazy, Chanyeol."

Baekhyun's finger grips tighter, obviously shocked. Chanyeol shrugs nonchalantly, unable to process the fact that ten years was abnormal.

"And now? Are you guys planning on living together with Chanyeol's mom once Chanyeol has graduated? Or will you move out?" Minseok asks casually, tilting his head in a way that's almost adorable.

Baekhyun sputters, shaking his head, too flustered to answer. Minseok is implying that they're going to live together -- that they're an item. Chanyeol looks to the floor in mortification, the carpet suddenly fascinating.

"We're not -- we're not together," Baekhyun's answer is soft and embarrassed, but clear. It rings through Chanyeol's ears and he remember that they really aren't. That Baekhyun came here to figure out how to go home.

Minseok laughs a little, eyes forming crescent moons on his face. He looks to Heeyeon then, eyebrows raised, and she responds with a look that says something the teenagers will never understand. A pair of footsteps bolts into the room then, a little girl with soft hair and sweet eyes who whines at Heeyeon for something.

Baekhyun watches, amazed, as Heeyeon scoops her up and leaves the room. He notices the other children playing a few feet away, screaming and giggling, and he thinks he knows why Minseok and Heeyeon chose this career.

"Can we play with the tall hyung?" a little boy asks, maybe only five or six. Minseok laughs and looks to Chanyeol, asking for confirmation, and the tall boy nods back enthusiastically.

"I'll be back," he says under his breath to Baekhyun, dislodging his finger from Baekhyun's soft hold. Baekhyun watches as he trots over to the boy and helps to lift him up, three more children jumping on his legs and vying for their chance to be held by Chanyeol.

He feels warm watching it, his heart beating at a surprisingly steady rate. Lately, Chanyeol has only caused uncomfortable, too quick chest pain. But now, he's calm watching Chanyeol giggle with the kids.

"You know, Baekhyun," Minseok starts. Baekhyun turns to him, startled, as if he'd forgotten Minseok was still on the couch. "I'm not sure if you've figured it out yet. But every pair I've ever met -- they've all fallen in love. I think that's why the sun and moon do this. I don't know if it'll prove true with you two, but I see the way he looks at you."

Baekhyun chokes on nothing, eyes and cheeks burning, too overwhelmed at the thought. He hates himself for the way his heart jumps. He hates himself for almost forgetting that he visited Minseok to find a way to go home. And he especially hates himself for the way he looks at Chanyeol again, this time knowing that maybe he was meant for him, heart fluttering.


	11. eleven

Chanyeol doesn't hear, as he's too busy with the kids. But he does notice something is different in Baekhyun's eyes when he gets back. They're intense in a fond way. He feels scrutinized, assessed, but he doesn't feel judged. He sits down next to the smaller boy, noticing the changed quality up close. He wonders what could've happened to make Baekhyun change so quickly, to make the air turn awkward.

Chanyeol takes the chance to reveal why they'd travelled the entire way to visit the orphanage, even though the thought of Baekhyun's reasoning sends a pang through his stomach.

"Actually, Baekhyun wanted to know if you were aware of any . . ." Chanyeol takes a deep breath, dreading what he's about to say. "Any ways he can get home?"

Minseok looks confused, eyes downcast and forehead crinkling. "All the way home? Back with the stars?"

He looks up to stare at Baekhyun, disbelieving.

"Why?" he asks skeptically. Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun stiffen next to him and he panics for a minute, the urge to reach out for Baekhyun strong. What was wrong?

"I hate the thought of having no way to go home. It's scary here -- I mean, it's nice, but scary sometimes. I'm not used to anything here."

It doesn't even sound right to Baekhyun after he says it. He knows the real reason he wants to leave: _I'm scared of these feelings. I'm scared of Chanyeol regretting taking me in. I'm scared that he will never feel the way I do. I need to leave._

Minseok sits quiet for a long while. Finally, after a short eternity, Minseok responds quietly, "If you want to go home, you need to wait until the full moon, and then ask the moon. She'll let anyone go back, as long as they wish it. But that's the thing, Baekhyun, no one has ever wished --"

"Thank you," Baekhyun cuts him off, fearing that something will slip out of the man's mouth that will give him away to Chanyeol. If there's one thing that scares him more than the thought of Chanyeol resenting him, it's Chanyeol knowing his feelings and not reciprocating them.

He can't believe it's that easy. Just ask, and he can leave. Chanyeol can't believe it either. He'd been secretly hoping there was no way, even though he knew that made him a selfish, awful person.

"The next full moon is . . ." Chanyeol trails off, looking something up on his phone. Baekhyun doesn't notice the way his hands are trembling. "Tomorrow."

It gets silent then, an uncomfortable sort of quiet that makes Chanyeol swallow a lump in his throat and Baekhyun shift in his seat.

"Are you going to go back?" Minseok dares to ask what's on Chanyeol's mind. He winces at the pain in Chanyeol's eyes when he says it, flinches when he sees the fear in Baekhyun's.

"I think I should," Baekhyun whispers. "I'm not made to be here."

_I'm not made to stay with Chanyeol. Not when he's nice and perfect and could have an amazing life without me clinging on to him all the time. Not when he'll never want me back._

"Baekhyun, I think you should think about it more. Maybe wait another month -- you never know what could happen in a month," Minseok sounds desperate, as if he's begging Baekhyun in place of Chanyeol. "So much happens in a month."

Chanyeol wants to nod, wants to agree, but he feels frozen in his seat, the thought of Baekhyun leaving overwhelming him.

Baekhyun shakes his head fitfully, obviously agitated at where the conversation is going, and stands up in a rush. "Chanyeol, I want to go home. Let's go."

Chanyeol laughs -- or is it a sob? he can't tell -- at the irony. He wants to go home. It makes anger bubble up, thinking of the fact that Baekhyun desperately turns to him, asks to go home, but will leave him in a day.

What's worse is that the anger doesn't make him want to scream; he just wants to cry. He doesn't want to be a baby, but it's so hard to avoid it when he's looking at Baekhyun, knowing that every second is one of the last.

"Let's go," he agrees, bowing pathetically to Minseok in an attempt to maintain any semblance of a decent conversation. Minseok watches with wide eyes after the two, regretting everything he'd said.

Chanyeol can't help it. Once he starts the car and backs out of the driveway, the tears start. _I hate myself so much. Stop crying, Chanyeol. Don't be a baby. He was never yours from the start._

If Baekhyun notices, he doesn't say anything. He stares out of the window, no matter how dizzy it makes him, latching onto any thought besides what he'll be doing in 24 hours.

The ride home is a rush of Chanyeol sniffling softly, humming along to the songs on the radio, and Baekhyun avoiding looking in his direction.

Somewhere in the middle of the drive, Baekhyun shifts slightly towards the drivers seat, leaving his hand out in a sort of surrender. Chanyeol stares at it. He wants to hold it, wants to beg Baekhyun to rethink, but he doesn't want to make him agitated again. He doesn't want to be the reason Baekhyun is more eager to leave.

He ignores it.

Baekhyun gets the message and turns away again, facing the window. Chanyeol acts like he doesn't see the soft shaking of Baekhyun's shoulders or hear the whimpers.

\--

The sun is setting by the time they get home, a soft orange and yellow masterpiece. It makes Baekhyun a little awestruck, looking at the way the sun dips behind the jagged edges of trees in the distance, the warm-toned paint spilled across the canvas. He absentmindedly realizes it's his second to last here. And, if they keep behaving like they have been, probably the last with Chanyeol by his side.

They get out of the car silently, Chanyeol leading the way to the door and using his keys to unlock it. It's silent and cold and dark. Mrs. Park is working late, Baekhyun realizes. They make their way up the stairs single-file, slowly.

Once they're in Chanyeol's room, Baekhyun turns to him, mouth open, but no words spill out. Chanyeol sits on his bed and watches as the boy's mouth opens and closes, scared of what he will say.

"Chanyeol, I'm sorry," he finally spits out. Chanyeol's eyes lock onto his and they exchange looks of fear.

"What for?" he asks tenderly. He wants Baekhyun to tell him he's sorry for wanting to leave, that he won't do it.

"For burdening you," Baekhyun looks down at his feet. "I've just been clinging onto you and using you and --"

"It's fine."

Chanyeol lays down, back turned to Baekhyun. He regrets it immediately, cursing himself into oblivion as he hears Baekhyun settle into sleep on the floor. It feels like hours pass. Maybe it's minutes. Chanyeol can't keep track, not when all he can focus on is Baekhyun is leaving and _I can't breathe_. Time ticks by, his heart thumping, and he turns around to see Baekhyun asleep, dried tears on his cheeks.

Chanyeol lifts the boy to the bed and settles in next to him, eyes running over the face that he's known almost his entire life. He's so scared. He looks at the long eyelashes, the little nose. He watches the way Baekhyun breathes, is enthralled by tiny mole above his lip and the way he smacks his lips together. He can't get the thought of Baekhyun leaving out of his mind.

He leans forward slowly, pressing a soft kiss to Baekhyun's forehead. His heart swells, knowing that any other day this would have made him feel domestic and even more in love. But now it hurts. He's surveying Baekhyun's face out of adoration, but also out of necessity. He doesn't want to forget anything; he can't afford to forget a single angle of his chin or curve of his lip.

He sleeps on the floor that night, sobbing into his pillow for a good fifteen minutes before sheer exhaustion takes over.

\--

The next day is almost unbearable, even from the start. Chanyeol wakes up, extremely late, to a crick in his neck and a message on his phone reading, "Grandma called. I'll be there all day! Be good!"

He looks up to the bed and sees Baekhyun's tuft of hair peeking out from plush blankets. His heart leaps, registering this as the last time he'll wake up to Baekhyun.

The boy stirs silently, sending Chanyeol leaping to his feet, ready to evacuate the room and the awkward how-did-I-get-in-the-bed conversation.

It's only ten minutes later, when Baekhyun comes downstairs and makes puffy eye contact with Chanyeol, that things return to normal. At least, as normal as they could be. Baekhyun sits down next to Chanyeol on the couch and crunches loudly on a bowl of cereal, hair wild and cheeks pink.

"I'm going to miss you," Baekhyun whispers around his spoon. Chanyeol looks over, struck with the raw sadness in his voice, eyebrows raised.

"Then why go?" Chanyeol regrets it immediately, turning away from Baekhyun in embarrassment. Baekhyun studies the taller boy impassively.

"I don't think I'm meant to stay here, Chanyeol," Baekhyun lies. "I never really adjusted. And I've just been a burden to you and your mom this entire time. I think it'd just be better if I went back home, if you could live your life normally."

Chanyeol goes quiet and focuses on his cereal. It's almost a full two minutes before he pipes up angrily, "I won't be able to live normally. Will the dream of you ever go away? Or will I have to look at you everytime I close my eyes until I die? I can't live like that."

It comes out harsher than expected. Baekhyun's eyes fill with tears and he stands up quickly, leaving the room. Chanyeol wants to scream, and so he does, throwing a pillow on the floor. He feels like a child, but, god, he can't just let Baekhyun act like leaving was a quick trip to the store. If Baekhyun regretted it, he'd have practically an eternity to get over it. Chanyeol only had seventy years left, and he's positive it'd take longer to get over Baekhyun.

They spend the day like that, angrily sitting in different rooms and ignoring the other. Chanyeol can't help but cry some more, scared that Baekhyun will be too angry to say goodbye. Baekhyun sobs in Chanyeol's room the entire day, laying in his bed and breathing in his scent. He thinks that maybe he should stay, but then the thought of Chanyeol falling in love with someone else and moving away comes to his mind.

Chanyeol is perfect. He's tall and sweet and full of so much love. Chanyeol could have anyone. And Baekhyun has no one but Chanyeol. If the taller ever fell in love or decided to move on, Baekhyun would be left alone, too far gone in his feelings.

It's only as the sun sets that Baekhyun can hear footsteps running upstairs almost frantically, obviously Chanyeol and obviously flustered.

"Baekhyun?" the voice is so deep and so panicked that Baekhyun sits up in bed immediately, eyes searching for the tall boy. He jumps when the door to Chanyeol's bedroom is suddenly flung open. Chanyeol stands there, eyes red and hair messy. He notices the sigh of relief that he lets out as soon as their eyes meet.

"I didn't know if you left yet," Chanyeol explains desperately, looking around the room as if something would pop out. "I know the moon's not up yet, I was just worried and I had to check --"

Baekhyun hops off of the bed, practically jumping into Chanyeol's arms. It feels foreign, even though they've only been fighting for a day, to be held in Chanyeol's arms again like this.

"I'm here," he whispers into the taller boy's shoulder. Chanyeol notices the way he's shaking and he wraps a large hand around Baekhyun's waist, holding him close like he'd been dreaming of.

"Can . . . can you at least show me where you'll be?"

Baekhyun looks up, eyes slightly wet. He nods solemnly, pulling Chanyeol by the hand to the window. Chanyeol feels like if Baekhyun has to leave, maybe this is the best way to do it. To hold him and see where he should look in the sky so that he's always with him. It leaves Chanyeol's heart burning, but maybe it's better to accept it like this.

"Over there," Baekhyun points somewhere to the right, up high. It hasn't risen yet but Chanyeol knows it's near where the full moon will be. "You just have to look for that big, bright star. That's Jongdae, I think. I'm a little above him."

"Are you bright?" Chanyeol asks softly. He knows the answer because he's watched how Baekhyun glows and shimmers on Earth. He knows that he has to be ten times more brilliant than any other star.

"I don't think so. Maybe that's why I came here," Baekhyun's eyes get watery. It makes Chanyeol's jaw clench uncomfortably. "Maybe that's why they sent me here. Because no one on Earth would notice if I went missing?"

Chanyeol makes an angry sound, huffing. "You're bright, Baekhyun. I see you shine every day. You stand out on Earth. I know you stand out up there. You're the most beautiful, I know it."

Baekhyun turns to him then, eyes still wet but full of something that looks too familiar. Chanyeol watches him break into a small smile, even though his hands are shaking in a way that is definitively not happy.

"Do you think I'm beautiful on Earth?" Baekhyun whispers. He doesn't know if it's because of the way Baekhyun is shaking softly, or if it's the way he asks the question, but Chanyeol can't stop himself from saying it.

"I think you're beautiful anywhere. You shine here and you shine there. You are the light of my life --" he chokes a little bit, unable to comprehend the fact that he's fucking saying it. "I love you."


	12. twelve

He has to be dreaming. None of this is real.

He hadn't meant to say anything that would deter Baekhyun; he hadn't intended to start a fight, much less confess his love. But now it was too late -- the words hang in the air, awkward and foreign.

I love you I love you I love you I love you.

He watches emotions flash through Baekhyun's eyes and tries to determine them all, but it's almost impossible. The dark eyes are so vibrant with tears and mixed feelings that Chanyeol can't read them like he usually can. It's the unknown that makes him even more nervous.

He watches Baekhyun look down at the floor, contemplating. It seems like minutes pass before Baekhyun looks up; this time he really is crying.

"I --" Baekhyun chokes on a sob, hands coming up to rub angrily at his eyes. "I'm so _sorry_."

Chanyeol feels dread creep into his chest. It's too hard to breathe again. He looks away from the smaller boy to stare at his wall, blinking away tears. He's screaming at himself, the regret almost unbearable. Why would he bring up his feelings? Why wouldn't he just let Baekhyun go in peace? What good would it do to make him feel guilty?

"It's -- it's okay, Baekhyun, I never expected you to feel the same way." Baekhyun's eyes are too dark, too unreadable, too clouded with tears. Chanyeol's stomach flips in anxiety and fear. "I just let it slip, I'm sorry."

"What?"

Baekhyun's voice sounds dissonant and far away, like the first day they met. Chanyeol's mind flashes to his awkward entrance, the soft twinge in his heart when Baekhyun had first smiled in his direction.

He can't find it in himself to defend what had slipped out; he knows he would do it again. Something about finally telling him was so terrifying but so thrilling -- the second Chanyeol called him beautiful, he had leapt off a cliff.

But now, staring at the boy who holds his entire heart, he realizes there was rocks in the water the entire time. He should've never jumped.

He feels himself hitting the rocks, his consciousness blurring, regret burning deep in his stomach. But then it feels like maybe it's okay, because there's a soft hand holding his, pulling him towards the surface.

He looks down at their fingers, Baekhyun's slender, pale wondrous fingers. Holding his.

"You really love me?" Baekhyun whispers. The way he chokes it out, the sound that falls from his lips as soon as he says it, makes Chanyeol glance up at him. He realizes now that they're so close.

 _Now isn't the time to get embarrassed,_ Chanyeol thinks. _Just tell him everything._

"I love you."

Baekhyun takes a sharp breath and shakes his head ever so slightly, as if willing himself to ignore what the taller had just said.

"I love you. And I don't want you to leave," Chanyeol holds his hand tighter, pulling him even closer, until his forehead is almost touching the taller's nose. "I don't know why you came here, I don't know what the sun and moon have planned -- but does it matter? You make me so happy. I don't know what I'd do if you actually left -- please, Baekhyun, I --"

Baekhyun makes another breathless sound and Chanyeol feels a tear drop onto their joined hands.

"I know it's selfish, and I know it's your choice. But please. I'm in love with you."

"Me too," it's so quiet that Chanyeol knows he had to have imagined it. But when Baekhyun's soft hands wrap around his neck and pull him down to a kiss, he realizes that maybe it was real all along.

The smaller boy is desperate, still crying into the kiss. He winds his hands through Chanyeol's hair immediately, pressing himself up against him, making choked noises every time Chanyeol kisses back. Chanyeol lets Baekhyun latch onto him and push him back towards the bed, legs tangling and a small moan slipping out.

"Wait, wait Baekhyun --" Chanyeol's mind is clouding with want, with a need to hold Baekhyun, but he knows that they're avoiding something major here. He can't just ignore the confession, act like it never happened. He can't bear with the thought that Baekhyun will still leave after this.

They stop kissing. Baekhyun looks down at Chanyeol from his position on top of the boy, gulping hard. His eyes are a clear dark brown now, the pure affection in them evident for Chanyeol.

"Did you mean it? Me too?" Chanyeol whispers it. He's terrified that Baekhyun will suddenly realize that what they're doing isn't what he wants, that these soft touches won't mean anything later. That Baekhyun will leave.

"I --" Baekhyun shifts uncomfortably on top of Chanyeol. It should hurt, since he's a fully grown teenager, but Chanyeol feels nothing but apprehension for Baekhyun's answer. "I meant it. I didn't want to burden you or be annoying -- I didn't want to overstay."

Chanyeol pulls him down in order for the pair to lay side by side. He rubs Baekhyun's cheek softly, taking note of how it feels to study Baekhyun when he's looking back. Baekhyun feels his heart flutter at the loving touch, at the look in Chanyeol's eyes, and prepares to explain himself.

"I don't know. It's so stupid, but I'd see how Sehun touched you and how everyone would laugh at your jokes. I'd notice the way Seungwan watches you when you're not looking and the way that you smile back at her --" he shakes his head, clearing himself of these thoughts. Chanyeol loves me. "I just kept thinking that maybe . . . maybe one day you'd fall in love or find someone new to spend time with. And maybe when that happened, I'd be left alone. With no one. It scared me so much. I wanted to leave before I got the chance to be alone."

Chanyeol pulls him into another kiss, this one unhurried and soft and sweet and so Chanyeol.

"I'd never leave you," he says it into the kiss, engraves the words onto Baekhyun's lips. "I was so scared you'd leave me. I don't want you to leave, Baek. I love you."

Baekhyun nods his head enthusiastically, sliding impossibly closer. The kissing speeds up then, still incredibly sweet, leading to Baekhyun climbing back on top of Chanyeol somehow.

They don't know how many minutes pass exploring the other, but Baekhyun thinks he could do it for the rest of his life. The rough way Chanyeol's hands roam over him sends shivers down his spine and he opens his mouth into the kiss, letting Chanyeol deepen it.

"I love you," Baekhyun says it for the first time when Chanyeol's kissing down his neck.

Chanyeol stops, frozen in place, before leaning forward to kiss and suck one on spot of Baekhyun's pale neck for a painfully long moment. Baekhyun lets out a whimper, one that sends Chanyeol's senses into overdrive, and he sucks at the spot harder. He licks the now-purple spot when Baekhyun moans out again, even louder this time.

Chanyeol knows that it's inevitable and that he can't avoid the tightening in his pants, but he forces himself to calm down, too scared of doing anything that Baekhyun doesn't want.

This seems like an impossible task, though, when Baekhyun is pliant and moaning and eagerly letting Chanyeol touch wherever he wants.

Chanyeol notices absentmindedly that it's fully night now, the full moon shining brightly into his room. He's almost about to worry, but then Baekhyun's sliding down to grind his hips against Chanyeol's crotch, whimpers slipping out like a chant.

"Chanyeol," Baekhyun moans it out, nuzzling the taller boy's neck, licking wherever he can. He moves his slim fingers to pull Chanyeol's hair, forcing the boy to look him straight in the eyes. "Chanyeol, I want you."

"Baekhyun, I don't know if it's a good --"

"Chanyeol," another roll of the hips. Chanyeol nods, worry snapping in half, moving to cup Baekhyun's ass with his large hands. He can't believe he's doing this. He can't believe Baekhyun wants him to do this.

He's fumbling, kissing Baekhyun feverishly and trying to not grope too hard, trying to control himself and savor every moment of what's happening.

It's not long before Baekhyun is a moaning mess under him, Chanyeol awkwardly trying his best to prep the shorter boy with the lube he had hidden in a drawer. Nothing feels real. But when his fingers hit the right place and Baekhyun screams, Chanyeol knows that he'll never forget this in his life.

He keeps working his fingers in, watching the way Baekhyun's face glows in the moonlight, the way his silky black hair shakes when Baekhyun writhes in pleasure on the bed, Chanyeol's name falling out of his lips.

He can't help but be enthralled at how beautiful he is, how much he wants to kiss him and never stop this. Anything to make Baekhyun look like this.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, feels like he might die if Chanyeol doesn't stop soon. It's too much, too many feelings and emotions, and he's the only one experiencing it. His throat hurts from the amount of cries that have tumbled out, raspy cries reverberating off of the walls and into his lover's chest.

"Chanyeol, please," he's begging, moving his knees closer toward himself. He needs something more, needs to feel Chanyeol and kiss him and realize that this is real.

The taller boy complies immediately, moving inbetween Baekhyun's legs. They kiss again, surprisingly slow and sweet for the situation, and Chanyeol brings a clean finger up to trace Baekhyun's cheekbone, whispering sweet nothings at sight below him.

"Is this okay?" he asks one more time, cautious. Baekhyun nods wantonly, allowing Chanyeol to finally put his inhibitions aside and push inside carefully, feeling Baekhyun tighten uncomfortably around him.

"Oh." Baekhyun whimpers in pain, grabbing for Chanyeol's hand to hold. It's the first time since they'd started kissing that they'd done something like that -- something so familiar and sweet.

Chanyeol closes his eyes, waiting for Baekhyun to adjust, trying to ignore the sizzling heat and intense pleasure. He feels soft lips press the top of his hand and he knows Baekhyun's done it.

Chanyeol feels his heart skip a beat, moving in a fraction deeper, groaning at the contact and the way Baekhyun moans.

It's a few more minutes filled with slow, languid kisses and whispered affections before Baekhyun finally nods in a way that means move. Chanyeol doesn't hesitate this time, not when he can feel Baekhyun squeezing around him and hear the need in the shorter boy's voice.

He pulls out and slams back in, harsher than he thought he'd ever be with Baekhyun, but the way the latter screams at it makes him keep going. Baekhyun almost squeals when Chanyeol finally hits a spot that sends hot white electricity racing through his veins. He feels like everything is too much, but nothing is enough.

"Chanyeol," Baekhyun breathes out. "Harder, Chanyeol."

He complies, moving at a rapid pace, trying hard to keep up with the pleas Baekhyun is making. Baekhyun is on another plane, bliss too much, Chanyeol's calloused hands around his hips so strong and _too much_.

He can't breathe, can't think; the only thing he can properly process is the image of Chanyeol above him, strong arms and perfect skin. He engraves it in his mind, saving it for the rest of his life, for the rest of the time he'll spend with Chanyeol.

After one too many hits to the spot that makes Baekhyun scream, he can feel the smaller coming undone, and he speeds up to match. The pace is maddening and it has Chanyeol groaning, too, watching the smaller boy's eyes roll back, mouth open with silent moans.

"Baekhyun," he whispers, voice rough and deep and tired. "Baekhyun, come with me."

He nods, whimpering out, "okay, okay" and gripping onto both of Chanyeol's forearms, swaying with the force of Chanyeol's movements. With a final cry of Baekhyun's name, Chanyeol comes, buried deep inside of him, breathing so unsteady that he feels he might actually pass out. Baekhyun has that effect on him.

Baekhyun comes immediately afterwards with the help of Chanyeol's hands, writhing in ecstasy. He watches Chanyeol pull out of him with a sigh and hears the taller pad out of the room, coming back seconds later with a wash cloth. He's fascinated, staring at Chanyeol's now curly, sweaty black hair as the boy kneels down to clean Baekhyun up, fingers gentle.

"Are you okay?" he questions, and Baekhyun feels long fingers pulling a pair of Chanyeol's oversized boxers onto him. He nods, blushing crimson at the way Chanyeol stares with such fond intensity.

Then Chanyeol is hopping back into the bed, readjusting them so that they're shoulder to shoulder, just like old times. Baekhyun wrinkles his nose and rolls over so that he's laying all over Chanyeol's body. The taller just laughs and untangles their limbs in order to run a hand through Baekhyun's hair.

The feeling of light fingers threading through his hair makes him incredibly sleepy and so he snuggles closer to Chanyeol, drifting off, thankful that he didn't leave. Thankful that Chanyeol loved him and he loved him, too. Thankful to have fallen here.


	13. thirteen

They wake up tangled in each other, Baekhyun's hair tickling Chanyeol's nose and large hands draped over a slim waist. It's the first time that Chanyeol has opened his eyes and is met with memories of Baekhyun's warm mouth, long fingers, silken voice. It's the first time Baekhyun smiles back in a way that tells him everything will be okay, that nothing will disturb the quiet warmth settled over the pair. _He loves me._

Chanyeol is still in shock, the soft caress of Baekhyun's fingers on his face foreign but nevertheless electrifying. Chanyeol reads his eyes, studies the saccharine warmth swirling through them like creamer in black coffee.

"Good morning," he whispers against Baekhyun's hand, which has somehow found it's way up to trace over his mouth. He registers in the back of his mind that his lips are chapped and he has morning breath, but Baekhyun doesn't seem to mind much. The smaller boy moves to grab for Chanyeol's hand, pressing his soft palm up flat against it.

Then he smiles his rectangular smile, eyes crinkling and cheeks rounding out in a way that makes Chanyeol's heart do a somersault. He presses soft kisses to Chanyeol's hand, breaking the eye contact in favor of studying the rough callouses on Chanyeol's fingers.

The taller boy swallows thickly, mind rushing back to Baekhyun kissing his hand the same way the night before, moans bouncing off of the walls, before he's pulled back to reality by the sound of his boyfriend's -- could he call him that? -- voice.

"Morning," Baekhyun murmurs back sleepily, eyes fluttering to a close again, hands still occupied with Chanyeol's lips and fingers. Chanyeol can tell he's embarrassed, knows that's why he pretends to be so tired. He can't blame him, not when he's positive his cheeks are flaming at the thought of what had happened last night, too.

"Baekhyun," Chanyeol is careful when he pronounces the name, as if it's the first time he's ever uttered it out loud. Said boy opens his eyes slowly, blinking away any fatigue, cheeks turning pink.

"Hmm?"

"You . . ." Chanyeol trails a finger up Baekhyun's jawline, stopping to hold Baekhyun's face tenderly. "You won't leave?"

Baekhyun laughs a little, trying to diffuse the sadness in Chanyeol's voice. "It's a little late to leave now, actually."

Chanyeol feels like he should be worried about Baekhyun avoiding an answer, but when he hears the giggle rising up Baekhyun's throat, he knows that it's okay -- that's his answer. He dissolves into laughter, too, relishing in the way Baekhyun looks like this, sunlight reflecting off of his skin, a golden hue in his almost-always black eyes.

It hits Chanyeol like a bolt of lightning; he feels it in his toes, in the fingers he has wrapped around Baekhyun, in every breath he takes.

This is the face Baekhyun makes in his dream. There is no mistaking it -- this is the way he smiles, the laugh that bubbles over and spills warmth throughout Chanyeol's whole body. This is what he's dreamed of for ten years. This is what starlight looks like in the day, what angels sound like.

"It just happened," Chanyeol whispers, still panicking internally. _I really did dream of Baekhyun. He's real. He's in love with me. He won't leave me._

"What happened?" Baekhyun seems to sense the urgency in his voice. Baekhyun's eyebrows furrow and he tentatively squeezes the taller's hand, trying to coax an explanation out of him.

"You -- you," Chanyeol shakes his head, relief washing over him in a way he'd never thought possible. "You look just you do in my dreams. Right now. You just smiled and -- and it felt like a piece of some fucking puzzle just fit into place, like --"

"Like we were made for each other?" Baekhyun ventures, eyes darkening in a foreign, all-consuming way. Chanyeol hates the way it makes him feel small, but he loves the way Baekhyun seems so sure of his statement. Made for each other. It seems right, Chanyeol thinks, when he tries to picture anyone else laying next to him and can't.

"Made for each other. Yeah. That's what it feels like. You know soulmates?" Chanyeol laughs out loud, hands shaking despite himself. He watches the darkness in Baekhyun's eyes fade into a dark brown hue, a fire burning in them suddenly. "We're soulmates. Minus the whole red string thing, though. Do you know that legend?"

Baekhyun shakes his head no, ignoring the tugging feeling in his chest. He wants to do something -- wants to pull Chanyeol down and kiss him and repeat last night's events, wants to make Chanyeol scream the same way he did, wants to watch the sunlight shimmer on Chanyeol's golden skin.

"You know," Baekhyun moves softly, almost cat-like, to straddle Chanyeol. His mind flashes to the way he'd held him last night, the burn of Chanyeol's hands roaming over every inch of skin.

Chanyeol blushes a scarlet red, barely able to maintain eye contact. He'd pounced last night, reveled in the way Baekhyun looked in the moonlight -- but now, with the sun shining over the two of them, with the implied innocence of morning time, it was too much to take in.

"I know?" Chanyeol manages to choke out. His eyes are trained on movement of the boy over him, fascinated.

"You know . . . Minseok told me something," Baekhyun smiles brightly, as if he wasn't affecting the boy under him seconds before. "He said that pairs like us, people of the sun and of the moon -- we're made to fall in love, he thinks. Soulmates, I guess."

Chanyeol quirks his eyebrows in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me he said that?"

"Because right after I found out, _someone_ came back and asked how I could leave. I thought it was a clear sign that _someone_ wanted me to go back, you know, so I didn't really bring up anything about being soulmates or --"

Chanyeol sits up then, swallowing the last few words from Baekhyun's mouth, hands dancing their way to hold the boy in his lap tighter.

"Sorry about that," Chanyeol says it against his lips, noticing the way Baekhyun smiles shyly into the kiss.

"It's okay, honestly --" Baekhyun wraps arms around Chanyeol's neck, pulling away from the kiss to rest his head on top of Chanyeol's for a brief moment. "I did nothing but make you think I wanted to leave. But that's not true. I love you. We're fated, right?"

Chanyeol looks up at Baekhyun, eyes shining in a manner that conveys pure warmth. He pecks Baekhyun's cheek in a way that's so chaste, so plainly affectionate, it has the smaller blushing deep.

"There's no way I could've left you, I don't think I would've let myself," Baekhyun confesses, nuzzling deeper into Chanyeol's hair and blushing at the kiss. "I'm glad I was made for you."

"I'm thankful you came down to me. I would've waited a lifetime for you, but I'm so thankful you're here now."

That morning, Baekhyun rides Chanyeol so fast and so sweetly that for a second, Chanyeol thinks that maybe it is actually night. There is no way Baekhyun is this in his element during the day -- no way for the smaller to be this frantic, this vocal when he knows others are awake in the neighborhood. They crumple together in bed, Chanyeol's soft touches and inviting lips helping Baekhyun reach completion, a wave of calm euphoria settling over them.

They fall back asleep then, the early morning sunlight giving the pair an amber hue -- one glowing in the light of the sun, as he was made to be, the other illuminating all the shadows in the room, soft skin glittering with sweat and moonlight.

\--

Baekhyun is there for it all.

He's there when Chanyeol comes out to his mom ("Chanyeol, I'm not blind. I saw how you two acted, I knew.").

And he's there when Chanyeol finally tries to find his sister (he succeeds, and she comes to Christmas that year, with a little boy who has barely learned to walk and who thinks Chanyeol's ears are funny and beautiful. Chanyeol cries, and Baekhyun acts like he doesn't notice the way Chanyeol holds him tighter that night, sniffling slightly, talking about how beautiful his nephew is).

He watches as Jongin and Kyungsoo decide which college to attend, purposely applying for housing together, pinkies intertwined in a way that the pair thinks must be discreet. It definitely isn't, and Baekhyun notices, but he doesn't say anything -- not when he sees the gazes Kyungsoo throws Jongin's way, thinking that it's all done covertly, a sacred kind of happiness shining in his irises.

He cries when Sehun leaves to go abroad for an internship, letting the younger boy hug him tight and laugh at how ugly Baekhyun is when he sobs. Chanyeol tries to slip Sehun some money, tries to tell him it's from the both of them, but it's no use, not when Sehun makes suggestive eyes and giggles and whispers, "Save it for a wedding!" with gleeful mirth.

He's definitely there when he makes a call to Minseok, apologizing, and when they meet up another weekend, talking about where they'd been and where they want to go and what the teenagers want to do in the future. It's nice, it's familiar -- Baekhyun feels like maybe they're the closest thing he'll get to a set of parents, even though they're less than ten years older than him.

And years later, after Chanyeol has figured out that he wants to be in the music industry -- he wants to be a producer -- and Baekhyun has realized that he loves the way the flowers at Minseok's house bloom, they move out into a place that they call their own. It's shabby and kind of old, but Baekhyun loves the way Chanyeol looks in the tiny apartment, too tall and lanky, but the right type of cozy. He loves the way they fit together, the way they've learned everything the other likes. He likes the nights they can spend holding each other and giggling, the nights filled with moans, and the nights they spend where Chanyeol finds out he doesn't know how to cook that dish and, instead, they order takeout and cuddle on the couch.

He adores the way Chanyeol stares at him the night he hides a ring in his champagne (in their apartment's living room, of all places to have a glass of champagne). He loves when Chanyeol cries at the same time he does, enveloping him in strong arms and a chorus of whispered I love you's. And even though they can't get married right now, Baekhyun has no doubt in his mind that Chanyeol is his husband, that Chanyeol is the love of his life.

He especially likes hearing the songs Chanyeol's played countless times on the piano in their new house boom out over the radio. He jumps up the first time, screaming, calling Chanyeol and crying, despite the odd looks he gets from everyone in the flower shop. He bows in apology, shaking with excitement, yelling a jumble of words that sums up to "I'm so proud of you, I love you so much, your song's on the radio, Chanyeol!"

He doesn't think he's ever loved anything more than the way the soft footsteps sound when she runs into their room, tiny hands grappling for a hand to hold, someone to pat her back. Chanyeol laughs in his tired way and pulls her in the middle of them, mumbling soft words and placing an unhurried kiss on her forehead. Baekhyun holds her then, letting Chanyeol roll towards them both, eyes radiating adoration. Baekhyun whispers into the little girl's hair, "I love you to the moon and back" and Chanyeol knows he's not lying, threads his fingers through Baekhyun's so that they can feel the other's heartbeats, can feel their daughter's breathing even out between them.

His absolute favorite thing is watching Chanyeol lift the little girl into his arms, pointing to the sky, telling her stories of how the moon and the sun worked together for them to all become a family. He's eternally fascinated with the smile it brings her, with the way Chanyeol's strong arms look holding his entire world. He blows them a kiss from the other side of the yard, where he's tending to some flowers, and relishes the sound of laughter that rings around him.

When they finally have a ceremony, Chanyeol's chokes out his only vows, hands shaking in a jittery, euphoric way.

"I'm eternally grateful for you. You are of the moon, and I'm of the sun -- and we have the most beautiful daughter in the world, of the earth. I wouldn't want anything else. You two are my entire life -- I love you to the sun and back."

And Baekhyun laughs, tears spilling over, because he believes it completely. "I love you to the moon and back."


End file.
